


Redemption Via Infection

by elphabachan



Category: Left 4 Dead 2
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-04
Updated: 2012-06-05
Packaged: 2017-11-06 21:19:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 72,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/423328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elphabachan/pseuds/elphabachan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He rarely let people in, and those he did care for he kept at a distance. But then the world ended, and things changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, Valve does. I'm just playing with them and will put them away neatly when I'm done.

Nick stepped off the boat, mentally counting his earnings and smiling a bit to himself. He’d never cared for the South, but he did love the money that he could gain on the riverboat casinos. Of all the cons he had pulled in his life, the type that was most moral, in his mind, was the good old fashioned poker hustle. Even though he never felt guilty about any of the stings he’d pulled off on people, hustling took advantage of other people’s avarice. He just fought greed with greed, and slept perfectly fine at night.

            “Thank you Georgia rubes,” he muttered, and waited until he was at his rental car before he counted all of the money he’d earned that day. Which he would soon add to the hotel safe filled with money he’d earned that week hopping from boat to boat and back alley to back alley. If he recalled correctly, he’d have nearly two thousand dollars, which was more than enough for his trip and his ultimate goal of the trip.  Sure, he was nursing a few cuts and bruises from a few who hadn’t reacted well to his con, but it was more than worth it. He started up his car, whistling to himself, and began the drive back to his hotel.

            He figured that he would take in the sights of Savannah a couple more days before heading down to Brunswick. Try and pick up some more cash, and maybe some company too. Besides, he had to gather some courage before he went to visit Daisy, as he didn’t know if she would even be happy to see him. After all, her mother certainly wouldn’t be. Who knew if she would follow suit.

            After gathering part of the cash from the hotel room, he walked his way down the street, lazy October breeze dancing in the air. He was sure that he had seen that jewelry store a couple of blocks away, but at the same time there was also a certain bar that he wanted to stop at. He could just pop in for one drink before the jewelry store closed…

            “No, don’t be a shmuck,” he chided, and knew that he had to go to the jewelry store first. Something in his gut told him he needed to go get that necklace now, probably because he knew he would end up picking up a willing companion at the bar and that would be the rest of his night. Can’t screw this up this time. Not on her birthday. Never on her birthday.

            He walked into the jewelry store and straight up to the counter. The older man behind the counter looked Nick up and down, and once he’d decided that he was worth his time he gave him a courteous smile. “What can I do for you today, sir?” Nick pulled out the roll of cash and smacked it down on the counter, grinning wolfishly.

            “I want a necklace for the prettiest 15 year old girl in the whole state of Georgia,” he replied, cheerfully. The man’s face instantly went stricken, and he tried to recover, but Nick was already irritated with the implication. “She’s my DAUGHTER, buddy. It’s her birthday on Friday.”

            “Oh, ah, yes, of course,” he replied, and began to try to find something that would be suitable, or at least not further piss Nick off. “Well, it is October. Does she have any birth stone jewelry?”

            “I don’t know…. Think she’d like that?” Nick asked. He knew it sounded bad that he didn’t know much about Daisy. Probably because it was bad, but he didn’t need this jeweler judging him.

            “I’m sure she would love it no matter what,” the man said, reaching for something in one of the display cases. “Do you think she’d prefer opal or tourmaline?”

            “What’s the difference?”

            “Well, opal is a fine gem stone made from-.”

            “No no no, cost wise.”

            “Opal is more expensive.”

            “We’ll go with opal then.” The man smirked a bit, glad that his honesty had paid off, and removed a rather plain but charming necklace from the case. “This is a blue fire opal set in a silver chain and backing. 125 carat, from Australia. Does your daughter like the color blue?”

            Fuck. He didn’t know that either.

            “Uh, yeah, she does.”

            “I’m sure that it would be a real winner,” the man stated, even though Nick could tell that he was really nervous about making this sale. Working on commission would do that to a man.

            “How much is it?”

            “It’s five hundred dollars.”

            “Hm…” It would take a bite out of his earnings, but not too large a bite. But Nick knew that if he seemed disinterested he MIGHT be able to get something out of it.  “Well, it sure is nice. And she sure does like the color blue, but I’m just not sure that I can justify paying for that price… What was the other stone? Tourmaline was it?”

            “Oh, well, tourmaline IS a fine rock, but it’s hardly a gemstone. And you said that it was her birthday,” the cashier said, and Nick sort of shrugged, and hummed to himself a bit. It was when he broke eye contact and straightened up that he would probably get what he wanted. Make it look like he was going to leave.

            “I don’t know…” Eye contact: broken. Posture: straight.

            “…. Here, how about you pay the full price, but then I will engrave something on the backing, free of charge?” Got ‘im.

            “How much does that cost usually?”

            “In the fanciest script with a standard message, I usually charge one hundred dollars. I do it myself here, and-.”

            “Deal,” Nick said. He could have pushed for more, but the bar was calling him. “I want it to say, ‘To Aces, My Good Luck Charm’ That’s not too sappy is it?”

            “No, it sounds just fine,” the man affirmed, relieved to have made the sale and taking the cash. “It will be ready by Thursday.”

            “Just fine,” Nick said, ready to get his receipt and out the door. He felt pretty good about himself, having this out of the way and off his conscience. Now it was time for that celebratory drink. This had been the best trip to Savannah he’d had in, well, ever. He wasn’t sure that it could get much better than this.

            The sun was just setting as he entered the The Roost bar, located a few blocks from his hotel. He had abstained from drinking while on the river boat, hoping to keep his senses sharp and his intuition in tact. Hard to read people’s faces when you’re a bit tipsy. Better to just drink diet soda and pretend it has a nip of rum in it.

            He scooted into a seat in the bar, and nodded at the bartender. He’d been in each night, doing the same thing: having a couple of drinks, shooting the shit, and hoping to get some action. Similar routine to what he did in most cities he was visiting. It had been a pretty dry run this time around, action wise. The potential lovers weren’t really biting this trip, but then maybe his heart wasn’t in it. His heart hadn’t been into the idea of love as of late, if ever, and it was beginning to wear on his need to satiate his own lusts and desires. The best part about The Roost was that, being a gay bar, he had a chance to pick up not only a guy, but one of their female best friends as well. Win-win.

            “What’ll it be tonight, Nick?” Harvey the bartender asked, and Nick shrugged as he lit a cigarette.

            “Surprise me, Harve,” he stated, taking a drag and blowing the smoke out. “It’s been a good day, so I’m feeling adventurous.” Harvey smirked, shaking his head, and mixed up a standard Whiskey Sour. Nick took it, raised his glass to no one, and grinned. “To the suckers on the boats. They’ve made my stay that much more high brow.”

            “You’re gonna get yourself in trouble if you aren’t careful, Nick.”

            “Eh, I’m used to trouble,” Nick replied, taking a sip.

            He had started on his second Whiskey Sour by the time things began to get interesting. Usually he didn’t notice when a new patron entered the bar. He would only look up to check the person out, and then go back to his drink. Kind of slim pickings that night, but it was a Tuesday, after all. It would be better on Thursday. He just kept telling himself that, that the lack of people had nothing to do with the new, strange illness that was making it’s way through the city, the country. After all, it wasn’t like he’d seen anything to make him think it was any less alarmist than Swine Flu or Avian Flu. True, it sounded like East Coast cities got hit pretty bad, but Nick didn’t worry too much. He’d be back in California soon enough, and then who knew where he’d be going next?

            This time he was slightly intrigued by the young man who walked in, but only because he stuck out like the sorest of thumbs. He looked as if he should have been at a tractor pull rather than this scene, and Nick shook his head. It was always awkward, pathetic, and kind of funny when red blooded Americans would mistake a gay bar for just a usual watering hole. And this kid, with his baseball cap, Midnight Riders tee shirt, and ripped jeans, had to have redder blood than Ronald Reagan himself.

            “Hey,” the kid drawled, sitting down right next to Nick despite the fact there were plenty of empty seats. “Could I get a Miller?” Harvey nodded, not phased by the interloper, and Nick scooted away a small bit. “Oh, sorry if I’m crowdin’ ya.”

            “You aren’t,” Nick replied, voice neutral, hoping to not strike up a conversation with the hick.

            “Well that’s good, these seats in bars are always so close together so I’m always afraid I’m crowdin’,” he said as Harvey set the beer in front of him. “Thanks, ‘preciated.” Nick tried to ignore him as he drank his beverage, but the kid had suddenly gone off on a tangent towards Harvey, something about this one time some guy named Keith had fallen off his stool in a bar and caused a domino effect. It was insipid, and Nick’s mood was dropping fast.

            “Actually, that’s where I was before this, I was out with Keith for his birthday,” he continued on, barely stopping to take a drink of beer. “Now I know that CEDA has been telling people to not go out if you can help it, but for his twenty fourth he wanted to go to Tawny Knockers. I figure if you’ve seen one stripper there you’ve seen ‘em all, amiright?”

            “I wouldn’t know,” Harvey said, bored, and excused himself to go get a new keg from the back. Nick was pretty sure Harvey was going to take his sweet time, and he was debating forgoing the last drink and making a quick escape. But before he could, the kid had turned to him.

            “So, you sound like you’re from the North,” he led off with, and Nick barely refrained from rolling his eyes. “Whereabouts are you from?”

            “….. California.”

            “No way! I’ve always wanted to go to California! Looks like I met a big movie star!” he grinned, and Nick wasn’t sure that he was being incredibly naïve, or attempting to be funny. Or snarky. It was hard to tell. “What’s your name?”

            Fine, he’d bite. The kid was kind of cute. Could be fun to freak him out a bit. “Nick.”

            “Hi Nick, I’m Ellis,” the kid said, extending a hand, and Nick took it and shook it.  “Welcome to Savannah! You ever been here before?”

            “I’m sorry to say that I have.”

            “Aw, it ain’t all that bad down here,” Ellis retorted, gulping down some beer. “Sure, it’s hot, and muggy, but the people sure are nice!”

            Sure, really nice, for a bunch of bible thumping bigots, Nick thought, thinking about his ex-wife’s family in particular.

            “You in town for long?”

            “Just a couple more days,” Nick replied, defeated. He was roped into conversation and this Ellis was gonna talk not matter what he did. May as well order another drink and just deal with it until he as nice and drunk and ready to stumble back to the hotel.

            “I gotcha. Visitn’ friends?”

            “You could say that.”

            “They can’t be TOO entertaining if you’re here without them,” Ellis observed, and Nick snorted.

            “They live in Brunswick, I’m not going to see them until Friday.” And that was all he was going to say. Ellis nodded, and continued to jabber on about Savannah, things he could fill his time with, and as the time went on it became less annoying. Once his third drink had arrived he was actually quasi listening, nodding every once in awhile. Ellis didn’t notice how most all the patrons were looking at him as he talked, perplexed by this grease monkey kid in a gay bar of all places, and the Yankee he was talking to.

            “Shit, I told my buddy Keith that I’d meet the rest of them at another bar at ten,” Ellis said, breaking mid thought to glance at a clock. “It’s fifteen ‘til.”

            “Well, you’ll have quite a story to tell him,” Nick said, smirking, finishing off his third Whiskey Sour.

            “Huh? How come?” Nick set down the empty glass, and turned to Ellis, ready to burst his naïve and grits fed little bubble.

            “…. Kid, do you even know what kind of place you’ve been hanging out in for the past three hours?” Nick asked, and Ellis looked around a small bit, then back at Nick.

            “… This IS a gay bar, isn’t it?” he asked, and had Nick had drink in his mouth he would have spat it across the bar. Instead his eyes widened, and he scratched his head. “Wait, you thought I didn’t KNOW that?”

            “Well-.”

            “SHIT Nick, I DID grow up in Savannah you know!” Ellis exclaimed, and Nick, embarrassed, glared at the bar while the kid laughed. “Man, you must think I’m REALLY stupid.”

            “Well what else was I supposed to think?!” Nick demanded fiercely, though if Ellis heard the tension he certainly didn’t acknowledge it. “I mean, look at you! You aren’t exactly giving off any clues!”

            “Naw, you just thought that all us Southerners must be Bible thumping slack jawed yokels who hate gays,” Ellis said, shaking his head, still pretty amused. “You should have seen the look on your face-.”

            “Har har. It’s been nice talking, Ellis, but I think it’s my cue to leave,” Nick muttered, standing up before the humiliation completely overtook him, but Ellis gently took his arm.

            “Aw, come on now, Nick, I’m just teasin’,” he said, kindly. “It’s just funny is all. I know I don’t really fit the profile, but hey. Everyone’s different, right?... Come on, sit back down. I thought we was havin’ fun.” Nick sighed, and reluctantly took his seat. At least he’d eased up pretty quickly. And it was true, he hadn’t been having a rotten time.

            And most importantly, Ellis was pretty cute. Pretty annoying, sure, but he did have really nice blue eyes.

            Nick sort of smirked Ellis’s way, and shook his head. “Jesus. This day just keeps getting better and better.”

            The date at the bar ended after a few more drinks, possibly some dancing to the jukebox (Nick couldn’t be sure, but it MIGHT have been Lady Gaga as there was lots of fist pumping and slurred lyrics about bad romances), and lots of other things he wouldn’t have done while sober. This was why he never drank heavily while gambling, as he became weak and excitable. It didn’t take long to get back to his hotel, and once he had closed the door they had crashed into each other, lips meeting and arms grasping. Nick was fueled by lust for the kid, and Whiskey Sours which Harvey must have doubled without telling him. Ellis had really fooled him, because it was more than clear that he’d done this before as he bit down on Nick’s neck, beginning to leave a blotchy hickey. Nick groaned, enjoying the pain and grasping Ellis’s shoulders with his fingers.  As they shed each other’s clothes and slammed into the wall, Nick had a feeling that Ellis wouldn’t be meeting his buddy Keith any time soon. At least, not until Nick kicked him out after the fact, as was his M.O. One night with the hick wouldn’t hurt.

            It was a whirlwind, sweaty and hard and something that Nick had really needed to top off this great day, and as they lay in the bed after the fact, he lit up another cigarette. Ellis stretched, and was hesitant to move close to the older man. Which was just fine by Nick, because if he didn’t move to cuddle with him, then it would be easier to get him out the door. He always found it best to just act like nothing big had happened, and then the paramour of the evening would get the hint and leave. He wasn’t sure that this strategy would work with Ellis, since he seemed to be the most oblivious person in Savannah.

            After twenty minutes of silence, Ellis finally stood up and began to put his clothes back on. “Well…. I should probably go and try to find Keith. Bein’ his birthday and all.”

            “Okay.”

            “….. So will you be at The Roost again?”

            “Probably.” Not now he wouldn’t. He’d probably even change hotel rooms just to throw the kid off the scent if he came looking for him.

            “’Kay…. Well….. Bye.” Nick nodded, and Ellis slowly walked out of the hotel room, only looking back once. Nick pretended that he didn’t notice. After all, Ellis would thank him later. It was best to not get too involved with Nick, it would only lead to trouble.

            Nick took a shower, smoked another cigarette, and turned out the light around one a.m. Yep. This had been a great day. He figured that it wouldn’t get much better than this, at least not until he saw Daisy on Friday. He just hoped that she’d be happy to see him. Best not to think about that at the moment, and he easily fell asleep after a tension lifting fuck he’d gotten from the kid. Nice knowing you, Ellis. Won’t forget that ‘til the next time.

 ________________________

            All that? That went to hell in a matter of days.

            Nick found himself falling off the high of a great day and landing in a proverbial hell. The fast spreading infection, the one that had been lurking in the news for weeks, overtook Savannah. Most of the state. Most of the COUNTRY even. So by the time Saturday rolled around, Nick was still in Savannah and no longer in that good mood. Instead, he was hitting zombie after zombie after zombie with an ax he’d found in one of the fire boxes in the hallway of his hotel.

            He thought that any minute now he’d wake up from this dream, but it soon became clear that it wasn’t meant to be.

            He was barricaded in his room, trying the phone once again. The only phone number he had was Cherie’s cell. He had managed to get through Wednesday night, though it hadn’t gone well.

            ‘Look, are you guys going to evacuate?’ he’d asked, just to hear her scoff.

            ‘In case you haven’t noticed, Nick, everyone is evacuating and it’s impossible to get anywhere in the cities,’ she bit. ‘Hank has a panic room, for when the government falls apart, we’re going to stay there with a radio and wait until this all blows over.’

            ‘Oh, real nice, a panic room,’ Nick sneered. ‘I had no idea that Hank was so adept at such technology. Why didn’t you tell me you married Tony Stark?’

            ‘I’m going to hang up-.’

            ‘WAIT, just let me talk to Daisy.’

            ‘She’s helping Hank gather supplies-.’

            ‘LET ME TALK TO MY DAUGHTER.’ She’d huffed, and must have thrust the phone at their daughter because he’d heard the girl say ‘Jeeze Mom, chill.’

            ‘Daisy?’

            ‘Hi Dad.’

            ‘Hi Aces. Are you okay?’ He’d heard her sigh a bit, and click her tongue.

            ‘It’s all pretty fucked up- I AM WATCHING MY LANGUAGE MOM, God.’ He’d smiled at her sass talk, as any sass talk towards Cherie amused him. ‘Hank has this pathetic little panic room and we have to stay in there. It’s really stupid.’

            ‘Listen to me, I’m in Savannah, and as SOON as I can get out of the city I am going to come and get you, okay?’

            ‘You’re in Savannah?’

            ‘Yeah, and I’m coming to get you,’ he’d said, firmly. ‘So stay there. Stay there and wait for me.’

            ‘…. Are you sure you want to do that-?’

            ‘Of course I’m sure. I promise that I’ll come and get you, okay Aces?’

            ‘… Okay Dad.’ She’d sounded a little skeptical, and worried. ‘Okay. When will you get here-?’

            ‘I have a car, I’ll be there tomorrow morning if I can.’

            ‘…. Okay…. See you then Dad… Love you.’

            ‘Love you too, Aces.’

            But of course he couldn’t get out of the city, and then there was too much cellular activity the next day to get through. Now Cherie just wasn’t picking up. He hoped that his ex wife was simply ignoring him, or had dropped her phone, but he was worried. He just kept telling himself that Daisy would wait in that pathetic little panic room, and he would get to her.

            By the tenth try in a row he yanked the phone out of the wall and hurled it across the room. It smashed against the TV, and he leaned forward, resting his forehead in his hands.

            “FUCK,” he snapped, and stood up, looking out the window again. The creatures were still wandering the streets, and today there were no people left. At least that meant he didn’t have to hear any more screaming from down below, or to the sides from rooms that had balconies. He was glad he hadn’t sprung for that extra amenity.

            He had to think. In the panic there had been riots, there had been mass looting, mass violence, mass vandalism. He could see many cars had been lit up as people who couldn’t get out of Savannah made sure that others couldn’t either. Real nice people my ass, Nick had thought as his rental car had burned. At first he was worried about paying the fine, but then it occurred to him that maybe that wasn’t going to matter anymore. Still, without a car, it was going to be a very nasty trip to Brunswick. But he was going to try, dammit, to make sure that Daisy and Cherie, yes, even Cherie, were alright.

            He straightened up, gripped the ax, and flung the door open. There weren’t that many zombies in the hallway at this point, and it was frustrating having to alert all of them to his presence. But if he’d learned anything these past few days, it was how to swing an ax with the most devastation. He rushed down the hallway, hurling the ax blade into the skull of a grey skinned and bloody woman who had been a maid. Getting blood on his favorite white suit was terrible, but necessary. He spun as he swung, hitting three of them. He was stunned by his accuracy, but he’d evolved in order to survive. Once he made it to the steps, he flew down them, knocking the more languid zombies out of the way. If their heart wasn’t in eating him, he wasn’t going to waste energy on them.

            He rushed out the front door into the sunlight, and scanned the street around him. Yes, there were lots of them, but they seemed preoccupied with snacking on the body of a rather obese man that was strewn next to a mailbox. Fine by Nick, and he began down the street, keeping a keen eye out for any of the infected. Especially those that were… different. He’d heard the groans and yells of the usual suspects as they wandered along, but there were other noises he’d heard in his hotel room too. And those noises sounded more unsettling.

            There had been some news on the last few broadcasts about evacuation centers, and safe houses people had managed to set up along the way. Sure, leave it to the military to make arbitrary points of rest, but not to nip this in the bud when it was clear it wasn’t just a hyperactive flu bug. If he remembered correctly, though, they had said that the evacuation center in Savannah, the Mall, of all places, had been completely overrun, and that residents should either go to Atlanta or Jacksonville, as the ECs were still in place. Of course, that was two days ago. Now there was no news whatsoever. But Nick knew where he was going: Brunswick, followed by Jacksonville with Daisy in tow.

            An ax just wasn’t going to cut it. Not if he was going to have to go to Brunswick by foot. He kept a sharp eye out for any other kind of weapon, preferably something that would riddle these creatures with bullets, and swiftly walked through the dead and burned out cars. He did, however, have one stop to make before he began the long walk down 95.

            Looters had made it to the jewelry store before he did, so the alarm was long dead and the windows long broken. He didn’t hold out much hope that the necklace would still be there, but since it was being engraved it was probably stored in the back somewhere. People were generally stupid enough to not think about things that weren’t right in front of them, so it was possible.

            He wished he had a flashlight, as the sun wasn’t shining into the bare store, and stepped in through the broken store front, ax up and ready in case the jeweler was undead and looking for a fight. His shoes crunched glass beneath his feet, and his heart thudded. Being in a small store was begging for becoming trapped, but he needed that necklace. When he saw Daisy he wanted to give her her gift.

            He heard something let out a nasty shriek, and he spun around just in time to be tackled by a hooded zombie. He fell backwards, yelling out as it tried to grab at him through his coat and the handle of the ax. He tried to shove it away, but it hissed and swiped at him pressing the ax into his chest in a fury. Nick could feel his strength faltering, and was about to just resign to his fate, when a gunshot pierced the air and the zombie flew back because of the impact. Nick sat up, wheezing a bit, and turned to see just who had saved him.

            “Hooo wee! That was a close one!” the familiar voice exclaimed, and Nick’s stomach knotted up. Was that even possible? A light shone on his face, and he squinted before hearing “Ho-lee SHEE-YAT!! Nick?!”

            Yep. It was Ellis. Ellis in the same hat, Ellis who had left the blotchy hickey on his neck a few nights before the world had ended, Ellis who was now holding a hunting rifle and grinning as if he had just seen Santa Claus. Nick couldn’t help but wonder if he still believed in Santa Claus as the younger man rushed over and helped him up.

            “DAMN Nick!” Ellis crowed, clapping him on the back. “I can tell ya, you’re a sight for sore eyes!” Nick nodded, and quickly examined himself. No cuts or gashes. He’d probably have a long bruise from where the handle had dug into his chest, but that was lucky, even if he could barely breathe at the moment. Which probably wasn’t just the wind being knocked out of him. “How’d you survive, man?”

            “…. Barricaded myself in my room,” Nick answered. “Waited it out…. Probably not the bravest thing I could have done-.”

            “Naw man, can’t blame ya,” Ellis said. “This shit really hit the fan, I’d probably have done the same thing.” Nick was about to give some feeble response, but he remembered why he was in the jewelry store in the first place, and rushed for the back room. “Hey whatcha lookin’ for back there?” Nick ignored him, and kicked the door to the back room in.  His eyes scanned the area, and fell on some engraving tools and a microscope like contraption. He began opening drawers around the tools, dumping them out as he looked for the necklace. When he found one that was locked he pulled the ax back and swung it, which made Ellis cry out in surprise. That seemed to do the trick, and Nick pulled the drawer out.

            Lo and behold, the necklace was there. He smiled in spite of himself, and flipped it over. ‘For Aces, My Good Luck Charm’. Perfect. It really didn’t sound stupid. He shoved the necklace in his pocket, and turned to Ellis.

            “How’d you survive?” he asked, hoping Ellis would continue his streak of not asking questions.

            “Well, it wasn’t easy, I can tell ya that,” Ellis said, voice a little sadder now. “But the point is that I have, and I’m headed to Atlanta. There’s supposed to be an EC there.”

            “Good, good for you,” Nick said.

            “… Wanna come with me?” Ellis asked.

            “I can handle myself, thanks.”

            “Heh, you could have fooled me back there with that Hunter.” Nick bit the inside of his cheek to keep his cool, and crossed his arms.

            “ ‘Hunter’?”

            “Yeah, that’s what the TV was calling those guys right before they went off the air,” Ellis explained, reloading his rifle with shells from his backpack.  “There are Hunters, Chargers, Spitters, Boomers, Smokers…. So whadaya say? Atlanta?”

            Nick shook his head, noticed a flashlight on the desk, and snatched it up. “Sorry Ellis, I’m headed towards Jacksonville instead. Gotta make a stop in Brunswick.”

            “Oh yeah, you got friends down there,” Ellis remembered, removing his hat a moment to scratch his head. “…. Ya want some company?”

            Nick really didn’t want company. He had always preferred to be solitary and independent, and that wasn’t necessarily going to change in the middle of the end of the world. And he especially didn’t find it a good idea to go along with his one night stand. One night stands needed to stay just that: one night. Any longer and Nick would fuck it up, either intentionally or unintentionally. But at the same time, Ellis had saved his ass, though he was loathe to admit it. And Ellis would probably know the cities on the way to Brunswick a lot better than Nick would.

            “…. Thought you were going to Atlanta.”

            “Well heck, an EC’s an EC, right?” Ellis answered. Nick nodded, jadedly, and couldn’t believe that he was about to do this.

            “…. Sure, feel free to tag along,” Nick said, turning his back so Ellis wouldn’t see him make a face. He heard Ellis say ‘yesss!’, and they were soon walking down the street together. “Know where I can get myself a gun like that?”

            “Sure do! I know the perfect place! We’ll stop there and stock up, sound good?”

            “What the hell.” And Ellis went off again, about that one time that he and his buddy Keith were shooting soup cans for target practice and accidentally knocked down a bird house. Nick was instantly regretting his decision by the point in the story where Keith tried to super glue it but ended up with wood stuck to his hand. And yet it was still a distraction, one that he could use. His mind needn’t wander into the dark places it might take him if he were on his own, his dark thoughts about how Daisy was, or what was going to happen to her, to him, to everyone.

 


	2. Chapter 2

The gun shop had been picked pretty clean by the time Nick and Ellis had reached it. Nick lifted up a pretty weak looking shotgun for himself, and set it back down, scowling. “Great. Looters got here first.”

            “Shit, shoulda figured that,” Ellis said, disappointedly, and leaned against the counter. “Well, take what you can get I guess. Ammo too. I should really get me one of them axes, dontcha think? How does it handle?”

            “It’s fine,” Nick replied, moving his hands under the edge of the countertop, hoping to find that telltale button that he was semi-familiar with because of people he’d dealt with in the past. When there was a small and subtle ridge, he pushed in gently.

One of the gun racks on the other side of the shop made a strange ‘click’ noise, and Nick nodded, smirking a bit. He hopped over the counter and rushed to it, revealing that it wasn’t, in fact, a gun rack, but a doorway to the big spender merchandise. Ellis stood up straight, and let out a low whistle.

            “How’d you know to look there?” he asked, voice filled with admiration, and Nick shrugged.

            “Saw it in a movie once,” he lied, and placed his hands on a semi-automatic shotgun. “This can’t be legal.”

            “Don’t matter anymore anyway,” Ellis said, as if the illegality of it would have bothered the con man. Nick held it up, and decided that this was the gun for him, along with a glock he strapped to his leg. Ellis didn’t touch any of the new guns, as he’d decided that his old and faithful rifle would do the trick just fine. “Alright alright alright. Think this place has any heavy duty melee weapons?”

            “This answer your question?” Nick asked, removing a large and intimidating katana from the room.

            “Aw yeah, DIBS!” Ellis cried out, rushing to him and taking it. “Now this is what I’m talkin’ about! I feel like a freakin’ samurai! Bruce Lee!”

            “Bruce Lee never used a sword.”

            “Pretty sure he did.”

            He wasn’t going to argue. “That’s the beauty of melee weapons,” Nick muttered. “Don’t have to reload them.”

            “But they can break,” the unknown voice said, and both Ellis and Nick spun around to see a young woman with fierce eyes and a wary glower. Out of instinct they held up their weapons, but that wasn’t to say that she wasn’t prepared. In one hand she had a Magnum pointed at them, in the other a broken baseball bat. “Hold on boys. Just be cool.”

            “Who the hell are you?” Nick asked, harshly.

            “I could ask you the same thing,” she replied, as neither of them lowered their guns.

            Ellis, being the ever dutiful peacekeeper, did lower his weapon, and smiled that goofy grin of his. “Well I’m Ellis, and this here’s Nick. We just wanted to stop here and load up on ammo and weapons. Nick didn’t have a gun y’see, and I thought this place would have plenty to go around.”

            Rochelle glanced about the room, still holding her gun on Nick. “Doesn’t seem to have many left.”

            “Looters,” Nick replied, holding up his unloaded weapon and hoping she wouldn’t call his bluff. Few folks ever did, but she seemed skeptical. “We aren’t going to hurt you, so why don’t you put the gun down?”

            “How do I know you aren’t a couple of sickos?” she demanded. “The gun stays up.”

            “Aw, come on, don’t be like that,” Ellis said, actually upset by the thought that they might try to hurt her. “Nick ‘n me, we wouldn’t do nothin’ like that-.”

            “I’ve heard that before and it was lies then,” she said, coolly.  “Why wouldn’t it be lies now?”

            “Tell you what,” Nick said, getting sick of these shenanigans when he wanted to get on the road to Brunswick. He set his gun down, and held up his hands. “You just take whatever you need and go. We won’t follow, we won’t try to stop you. We have our supplies, you take yours. Frankly, I have better things to do than engage in a pissing contest with a woman in a Depeche Mode tee shirt. As it turns out I just CAN get enough of that.”

            This seemed to quell her, and she tossed her broken bat to the side and began to gather ammo for her hand gun. Ellis pointed at the hidden gun cabinet. “There’re some really badass guns in there if you want.” She paused, and sort of smiled his way.

            “I’ll keep that in mind…. Where are you two going? Besides a guy out there I’m travelling with you’re the first non infected I’ve seen since Wednesday night,” she said, gathering up a box of bullets and shoving them into her bag.

            “We’re headed down to Jacksonville,” Ellis blathered, and Nick gave him a look. Ellis may have been more than willing to tell anyone anything, but he wanted to keep their path under wraps. How did they know she and her companion weren’t going to follow them and kill them for their supplies? True, they didn’t have much (their new weapons, old weapons, a couple of med packs, and a couple cans of food), but it may have been more than she had.

            “Why not Atlanta?” she asked, setting down her Magnum and opening a box of rifle shells.

            “Nick has some friends-.”

            “Ellis, would you SHUT UP?” Nick snapped, and Ellis did so, though he didn’t hide the fact his feelings had been hurt. “Look lady, it sounds like you have plenty of reason not to trust us. I don’t know what you’ve been through these past few days, but it hasn’t been a cake walk for us either, and I don’t see why WE should trust YOU with any info we have.” She glared at him, and he chuckled a bit. “Yeah, doesn’t feel so good when the shoe’s on the other foot, does it?”

            She went back to loading her newly acquired gun, and shoved the Magnum in her belt. Nick hoped that she would hurry the fuck up so they could be on their way, and Ellis just leaned against the wall, arms crossed and whistling.

            The woman finished filling her guns, and then began to shove more bits of ammo into her bag. “You know, we’re actually headed down to Jacksonville too. Coach thinks that people in Savannah would have been more likely to head towards another city in Georgia, and that Florida has so many big cities that there would be fewer people in that EC.”

            Nick didn’t believe it for a second, but whatever.

            “… I’d have to ask Coach, but maybe strength in numbers isn’t so bad,” she continued.

            “Oh, no longer convinced we’re gonna rape you then?” Nick asked. It was harsh sounding, and Ellis gave him a look that said ‘cool it’, but she shrugged.

            “I was sitting here completely unarmed while I loaded the sniper rifle and you guys did nothing,” she quipped.

            “Could have missed the opportunity.”

            “The others never did.”

            And Nick knew that he wasn’t going to bring it up again. He was a bastard, but he wasn’t going to be THAT kind of bastard.

            “So what do you think?” she asked, standing up and gazing through the scope of her new sniper rifle. “If Coach says yes, you want to join up?”

            Ellis looked at Nick expectantly, as if he had just assumed that Nick was the leader between the two of them. This kind of put the older man off, and he wondered why it was that the kid was already looking up to him in such a way. Nick slowly scratched his head, and sighed. HE didn’t want to join up with anyone. Even though Ellis was a pain, at least Nick knew something about him. At least they’d already connected, bonded enough that Nick KNEW that Ellis would have his back, and that he would probably have Ellis’ too.  With this new woman and someone they hadn’t even seen, he was hesitant.

            Of course, strength in numbers was a good thing. He’d learned this over years of bar fights and two person cons. If he was going to get out of this alive, he would need as much help as he could get.

            “We’ll have to discuss it,” Nick finally said, and she nodded, walking towards the door.

            “You have five minutes,” she said, flatly. “Then we leave. We’ll wait for you on the fire escape.”

            “Fire escape?” Ellis asked.

            “Traveling by the rooftops has been working for us,” she explained. “Less infected up there. So what do you say, Nick? Five minutes?”

            “Fine.” She nodded again, and left the gun store. Ellis then turned to Nick, and let out a breath.

            “Hooooo, I thought she was gonna shoot us,” he said, and Nick didn’t answer, making his way to the hunting area of the shop. All the guns were taken, but people hadn’t grabbed any of the bags that were on sale. He thought that he could use one, since it seemed to be working out well for both Ellis and the angry lady. “So what do ya think? Think we should go with her?”

            “She seems like a real bitch.”

            “Yeah, but she knew how to handle that gun,” Ellis said, a small bit of respect in his tone. “BOTH of them really.” Nick snorted, still dubious.

            “We don’t know anything about her.”

            “Well what do you know about me?” Ellis pointed out, and Nick groaned.

            “Are you kidding? You basically told me your life story on Tuesday.” He couldn’t stop himself from addressing Tuesday. He had wanted to just kind of forget that the one night stand had ever happened, not because he didn’t enjoy it, but because it was an elephant in a room that really couldn’t be addressed right now.

            “She seems like she’s okay to me,” Ellis replied.

            “Before or after she had a gun pointed at us?”

            “Nick, come on, it sounds like she had reason to do that,” Ellis stated, a bit firmly, and Nick wrinkled his nose. Yeah, it did sound like that. “I say we go with her. You don’t hafta talk to her, but she seems pretty cool.”

            “….. Fine,” Nick said. “Go on up there and tell them we’re coming. I have to get some more ammo and I’ll be right up.”

            “Great!” Ellis said, clapping him on the shoulder, and was off like The Flash. Nick shook his head, thinking that he was most likely going to regret this, and turned back to the supplies. As he gathered up box after box of shells, his eyes fell on the phone on the countertop. He slowly stood up, and walked to it, dialing Cherie’s number one more time. Hoping against hope that someone would answer.

            “……… Hi, you’ve reached Cherie, I’m not available right now-.” He slammed the phone down, and left the gun shop.

            As he approached the fire escape he saw Ellis shaking hands with a burly man wielding a shotgun. At least they had similar taste in weaponry. It wasn’t a bad sign anyway. Nick grabbed the ladder and pulled himself up, swallowing his pessimism, and Ellis waved at him. “Hey Nick! Over here!” Like I couldn’t see you, he thought, and strolled over quietly.

            “This here’s Nick,” Ellis said, and Nick nodded at the large man. “Nick, this is Coach.”

            “Coach what?” Nick asked, hesitantly.

            “Just call me Coach,” he said, and shook his hand. It was quite the handshake, and Nick did his best not to wince. “You already met Rochelle.” Nick nodded towards her, and she nodded back. “The way I see it is that we should make our way down 95, with whatever transportation we can find. CEDA has set up Safe Houses along the way, I don’t know how many there will be, but civilians were encouraged to do the same. If we’re lucky we’ll run into some good ol’ fashioned luck and find other survivors. But frankly? I don’t hold out hope based on the few people I’ve seen lately.”

            “Except your friends, Nick,” Ellis whispered, patting his back, and Nick closed his eyes a moment. Just because she isn’t answering doesn’t mean there’s a problem. It could just mean that stupid panic room is really insulated.

            “As much as I like introductions, we should go,” Rochelle stated. “The sun’s gonna set soon. We should find a safe house or a car.”

            “Agreed,” Coach said, and turned back to Nick and Ellis. “How much experience have you had with zombies?”

            “Before Wednesday? Well, I dealt with zombies ALL the time,” Nick answered, incredulously. “I made it my goal to kill at least two zombies before breakfast at age twelve. I majored in zombie killing at Berkeley and graduated cum laude.” What kind of question was that?

            “Oh I’ve been kicking some serious zombie ass since Wednesday night, I can tell you that much,” Ellis jumped in.  “We stocked up on ammo in the store up there, I have this katana. We can carry our own weight.”

            “Well that’s good, because we’ll help you guys, but don’t expect us to die for you if it gets really hairy,” Coach said, and Rochelle nodded. “Not yet anyway.”

            “Oh, believe me, that really breaks my heart, really,” Nick replied, and began to walk ahead, sick of the talk. He hoped that they would find a car that wasn’t dead, empty, or burnt out, because then it would only be an hour with these people.

            “…. I wish you could actually major in zombie killing,” Ellis murmured, and Nick smiled his way, chuckling.

            “Actually, yeah, that would have been pretty cool.”

            More than an hour with Ellis he could handle, though. As silly as it seemed.

 

\---------

 

            Of course, they weren’t so lucky. By the time the sun had set they hadn’t found transportation of any sort, at least not some that could carry them all, and they had to hole up in a stairwell of a condo building. Coach, Rochelle, and Ellis had gone to sweep the place, see if there were any condos that didn’t stink of death or house any infected. If not they would just have to stay in the fairly clean but very cramped stairwell. Nick was told to stay behind and make sure the roof door was secure, not to mention the other doors of the five story stairwell.  He figured it was as good a time as any for a smoke, and frowned as he realized that he only had three cigarettes left. He thought perhaps he should ration them, but then just lit one up anyway, leaning his head against the concrete. No moans or screams from outside. Nothing on the other sides of the barred doors that his companions hadn’t gone through.

            Ellis opened the door, and peeked his head around it. “Hey Nick. This floor is clear. There were a few of those freaks out there, but we flushed them out and got rid of ‘em. Coach and Rochelle are cookin’ up some canned soup down the hall. Want to eat?”

            A couple spoonfuls of soup didn’t sound too good to Nick, but he hadn’t eaten anything since he had emptied the mini-bar in his hotel room. He stretched, and stood up. “Aren’t they worried about the stairwells?”

            “Naw, they thought we should eat and figure out sleeping arrangements,” Ellis answered, and led him out the door.

            “What? Why can’t we all just take a condo for the night? You said they were all clear, right?” Nick asked.

            “Yeah…. So, dinner?” Ellis obviously didn’t have the answers, or the foresight to ask the questions, so Nick would have to have a discomfited family dinner with his reluctant companions.

            “Doesn’t seem like there’s much choice,” he replied, and followed Ellis, closing the door behind him.

            Coach and Rochelle had removed some bowls from one of the cupboards in the kitchen and set them up around the circular table. Had it not seemed like such an empty shell, with blood stains on the walls and a mystery of the owner’s fate, Nick would have found it to be a nice condo. Nick pulled up a chair and Ellis sat down next to him, smelling the bowl of soup and digging right in.

            “Found some water in the pantry, along with more canned food,” Coach said, leaving a room beyond the kitchen. “Drink up tonight, we can’t take it all. Too heavy.” Rochelle took it from him and passed it around the table.

            “We can see if they have any water bottles.” Ellis suggested, wiping his mouth on his arm. “Good soup, Rochelle.”

            “Thanks sweetie,” she said, smiling softly at him. Ellis was already charming the girl who had a gun pointed at him not three hours before. “But don’t assume that I’m always gonna cook.”

            “Oh don’t worry,” Nick said, resting his chin in his hand. “Not like we’re going to find food every day.”

            “That’s why we’re going to stock up,” Coach said, sitting down as well. “So I think it’s time that we try to work out a strategy for getting to Jacksonville. We aren’t too far from 95, we can reach it by tomorrow morning at the latest. Hopefully we’ll find a car before then. If not? We foot it.”

            “Perfect,” Nick muttered. “If only I hadn’t left my pedometer at home.”

            “We don’t have any choice,” Rochelle threw back.

            “I bet we find somethin’,” Ellis stated. It wasn’t clear if he actually believed it or if he was just trying to break the tension, but he seemed to be in enough denial about the entire situation he probably DID believe it.

            “I like that attitude,” Coach stated, pointing at Ellis. “For tonight, I think we should take shifts watching the stairwell. The elevators are broken so that won’t be  a problem. Two hours each should do it. Rochelle and I are going to be in the same condo, in case something should happen.” Nick snorted, though it didn’t go unnoticed by Coach. “NOT like that, so get that out of your mind right now. You two can do what you want, but we aren’t going to be caught alone just in case one of you screws up the watch.”

            Nick was going to come back with a snarky remark, but then frowned. Sharing a condo with Ellis, while it seemed like a good idea strategically, seemed like a terrible idea on all other levels.

            “I can volunteer first watch,” Coach continued.

            “No, I can do it,” Nick jumped in. “So, what? Midnight to two?”

            “That sounds right,” Coach said. “Ellis, you take two to four, Rochelle will have four to six, and I’ll take six to eight.” Nick wasn’t sure who put this guy in charge, but figured he could handle it until they got to Brunswick. Well, if they got a car, anyway.  “We leave at eight thirty sharp.”

            “That sounds good t’ me,” Ellis agreed. Nick set down his spoon, and nodded too. He pushed his empty bowl away, chugged his water, and stood up.

            “I’ll go start my watch now,” he said, despite the fact it was ten. Anything to get him away from the dinner table. “Good soup Rochelle.”

            He looked at his watch as he sat in the stairwell, and felt around his shirt pocket. Two cigarettes left. Dammit. Of all the ways to quit smoking, this seemed to be the one with the most drawbacks.

            The door to the stairwell opened, and Ellis poked his head around it again. “Hey Nick. Want some company?”

            He didn’t really want it, but shrugged. “Don’t you want to get some sleep before your shift?”

            “Naw, I’m not sleepy,” Ellis replied, closing the door behind him and sitting down next to his companion. “I’ve found out I can keep runnin’ on less than six hours a night. Keeps my mind sharp.” Nick chuckled a little bit, not believing him. It probably explained why Ellis was so cheerfully punchy. “So Coach seems like a good guy too, don’tcha think?”

            “Kind of bossy,” Nick answered, fingering his second to last cigarette.

            “Yeah, maybe a little bit,” Ellis agreed. “That’s okay by me though. Just tell me which way to go and I’ll do it, ya know what I mean? Always been better at takin’ orders than givin’ them.”

            Nick nodded a bit, and when a silence actually fell over them, he glanced towards the kid. Ellis had started writing on the wall of the stairwell with a marker. “Have you had that marker the whole time?”

            “Yep,” Ellis replied. “Been leavin’ messages for Keith. When he comes this way he’ll want to know how I’m doin’. Where I’m goin’.”

            “…. So you and Keith….” Nick began, slightly curious. After all, Ellis talked about him all the time. “You two…. You know…..?” Ellis stopped writing, and a curved smile gathered across his lips.

            “Nah, jus’ best friends,” he answered. Nick turned back towards the concrete floor, satisfied with the answer. And now that he was satisfied, he needed to breach the topic so it would never have to be breached again.

            “Look,” he started, voice steady but still not looking at him, “I want to make something perfectly clear. If we are going to travel together, we both have to just forget about what happened between us on Tuesday.”

            Ellis stopped writing, and turned back to Nick. He was relieved that it had finally been addressed, especially since Nick had acted like nothing had happened almost as soon as they’d finished having sex. Of course, now that it was out in the open it was starting to sting.

            “…. Sure Nick.”

            “Because that means shit now,” Nick continued, voice harsher to make a point. “How I feel means shit and how you feel means shit. It doesn’t come close to mattering anymore.  All I want to do is to get to Brunswick, and that’s all I can think about right now. I can’t think about whether or not I have to worry about your feelings too.”

            “You don’t have to worry about my-.”

            “I’ve heard THAT one before.”

            Ellis wrinkled his nose, and snorted a bit. Where did this guy get off? “Fine… Sounds great to me.” He stood up, suddenly more ready for bed than he thought he would ever be. “I jus’ want to remind you, Nick, that YOU were the one who picked ME up, and needed ME more than I needed YOU that night.” Nick rolled his eyes, and was going to reply, but Ellis had already dropped the subject and left the stairwell. Fine kid, whatever, Nick thought, and did his best to fight the urge to light up his dwindling cigarettes. At least it had been settled. Ellis would have forgotten about it by morning, and if not then he’d forget about it by the time they were fighting off the hordes down 95.

            “Fuck,” he muttered, finally giving in to the addiction and moving one step closer to cold turkey. As he sucked the nicotine in, he gently hit his head against the wall.

            At two a.m. he entered the condo he and Ellis were sharing. Ellis had called dibs on the bed, and while something in the back of Nick’s mind told him to just share the bed with the kid, he didn’t want to tempt himself. At the end of the day, Ellis was still that attractive and full of life kid he’d picked up at The Roost, and after that spiel in the stairwell he’d better not slip. He knocked on the bedroom door, and opened it slowly. Ellis was sprawled across the bed, and only stirred when Nick whispered “Hey, Ellis. Your turn.”

            Ellis sat up, rubbing his eyes. “’Kay.” Nick gave him a thumbs up, and went to the couch, Ellis following him out of the bedroom, wrapped in the blanket.

            “Are you taking the blanket out there with you?” the con man asked, eyebrow arched.

            “Yeah, so?”

            “It’s pretty stuffy out there, is all.” It was an attempt at offering a détente.

            “I run cold. How many zombies did ya hafta kill?” Apparently Ellis wasn’t having it.

            “Ten thousand,” Nick replied, sarcastically.

            “Har har har.”

            “Didn’t see a one. It’ll be the most boring two hours you’ve had in your life.” Ellis picked up his gun and opened the door, tossing the blanket over his shoulder.

            “Boring’s good,” he said, and closed the door behind him. Nick fluffed his pillow, and sniffed. Of course that was right. Boring was good, but sleep was better. He laid back on the couch, and exhaled. Before he let a light and guarded sleep wash over him, he checked his pocket for Daisy’s necklace. Still there. Some good news anyway.  Just hold tight, Aces.


	3. Chapter 3

“BOOMER!”

            That was a phrase Nick had come to loathe. To him, the Boomers were the most tedious and cringe worthy of the infected. When he witnessed one of the fat creatures puking on a bunch of other zombies, he had almost laughed at the absurdity. While he had managed to avoid being thrown up on the entire morning, as soon as they left the on ramp and hit the highway he was covered in green glop. And with the green glop came the horde. At least fifteen infected descended upon him, and he yelled as he swung his ax blindly as the others shot at his attackers. He could feel the blade making contact, and waited until he couldn’t feel anything else before he stopped and drew a sleeve across his face.

            “DAMN Nick!” Ellis exclaimed, rushing up to him. “Are you okay?”

            “Best I’ve ever been,” he replied, though the sour smell of the vomit made him wretch. And it would only get worse as the sun pounded down on him. “Just great.”

            “Don’t worry, Nick, we’re bound to run into a gas station with a hose at some point,” Coach said, picking off an infected who was coming their way. Nick nodded, though he wasn’t sure. Next time, keep a better eye out, he thought, and Ellis make an effort to give him a reassuring smile.

            “It ain’t so bad,” he said, though he was trying not to laugh. Nick, in a sudden and fleeting moment of absurdity, smiled slyly at him and flicked some of the goo from his fingers at the younger man. “Aw HEY! That ain’t sportin’!”

            “Are you two finished?” Coach asked, a bit annoyed, and Nick and Ellis sheepishly nodded and followed. “Come on, let’s get you cleaned off before it attracts more of those things.”

            It seemed that drawing the line in the sand the night before had worked out just fine. Ellis hadn’t been outwardly cold or nasty towards Nick when he woke him up. As a matter of fact he acted as if nothing had happened. Nick wasn’t sure if it was because he agreed, or because other things were proving more important. Either way, he was relieved that there hadn’t been any tension since the previous evening. If he could say one thing, he and Ellis got along, and he rarely got along with anybody. Including Coach and Rochelle. They didn’t appreciate his pessimistic (in his mind realistic) view on things, and he didn’t like how they had invited him to come with but treated him like he might turn on them at any moment. It was also annoying that they seemed completely fine with Ellis, even though they knew just as little about him as they did Nick. But that was okay. He would just stick with Ellis and not get in their way.

            The did see a gas station off the next exit, and once they got there Coach divvied up tasks. He was going to look for a working car, Rochelle was going to patrol the perimeter, and Ellis was going to look for food in the little shop inside. Nick, of course, was going to clean himself off with a spare hose connected to the building, as if they didn’t have an actual car wash. Hicks, he thought, though he was thankful he wouldn’t just have to dump the window washing fluid all over himself. He removed his coat, and was slightly mollified that his blue shirt had missed most of the vomit. He turned the hose on the removed jacket first, and listened carefully to his surroundings. He dislodged his Glock from his holster, and aimed for the wooded area. A young infected came out, must have been in her early teens when she succumbed to the illness, and tilted her head, as if sizing him up. It reminded Nick of a cat, examining potential prey in it’s sights. He swallowed, and forced himself to pull the trigger. The bullet hit her in face, and she crumpled to the ground. Nick put the gun back in his holster, and went back to cleaning his coat. He had to shove down the awful feeling in his gut, so he concentrated on scrubbing, though his brow was knit with concern.

            “Nice one,” Ellis said, and Nick turned, sharply. “Whoa! Sorry t’ scare ya! How’s the coat comin’?”

            “Cleaning off,” Nick replied, and awkwardly turned the hose on himself. “I hope that we find a working shower. But what are the odds of that?”

            “Ya never know,” Ellis replied, sitting on a pile of tires. “The store was pretty clean. I had to drop a coupla regular ones. Did you know there was a Smoker in a tree over there?”

            “Yeah?” Nick asked, and threw the hose down in frustration. It wasn’t working out too well, to his chagrin. Without soap his hair wasn’t going to get completely clean.

            “And I found something for you in the store,” Ellis said, grinning, and tossed Nick a box of soap. It was as if the kid had read his mind, and Nick couldn’t help but smile a bit.

            “I gotta admit, Overalls, you’re a life saver at times,” he said, tearing open the box and rubbing the soap in his hair, on his face. Ellis tried not to stare, reluctantly adhering to Nick’s wishes, but it was hard when he was lathering himself up like that. Especially since the wet shirt was sticking to his body, and Ellis began to think about that last Tuesday and how good it felt to have Nick kissing his back as he ground into him over, and over…

            If he didn’t stop doing this, he’d have to hose himself off.

            “Here,” he said, picking up the nozzle. “You gotta change the power setting on this hose. If you don’t make it powerful the puke won’t come out.”

            “If it’s too strong a stream it hurts,” Nick admitted, and Ellis chuckled. “What? Have you had a hose like that sprayed at you at arm’s length?”

            “Well I’ll do it for ya then if you’re gonna cry about it,” Ellis said, and Nick was about to protest, but before he could Ellis had turned the pressurized stream at him. He yelped a bit, and held out his arms out in protest, though he could feel the soap and slime falling out of his hair with all the water coming at it.

            Ellis lowered the hose, and Nick sputtered, wiping his eyes and swearing about how cold it was. Ellis grinned again, and shrugged. “Now ya smell flower fresh.” Nick rolled his eyes, but it was true. The puke was gone. And he’d dry in the sun, eventually. Assuming the humidity didn’t prevent it.

            “Well, we’ll have to foot it a little longer,” Coach said, unable to hide his disappointment. “What did you find for food, Ellis?”

            “Do Moon Pies count?” he asked, and Coach laughed.

            “They’ll have to do,” he said, as Rochelle came back up. “Sorry Roch. Still hafta walk.”

            “BUT we have Moon Pies now, so we have that going for us,” Nick stated, heavy on the snark, and Ellis shot him a glare before spraying him again. “DAMMIT-!”

            “Enough horsing around you two!” Coach scolded. “Come on, let’s keep going. If we keep at a steady pace we should make it to Brunswick in a couple of days. We’ll have to resign ourselves to camping outside, I can’t imagine there are many shelters along the highway. Any questions?”

            Nick raised his had. “Yes Nick?”

            “This is a question for Ellis. Were there any cigarettes in the shop?”

Coach snorted.

            “Don’t answer that Ellis,” he said. “Come on, let’s get a move on.”

            “Next time,” Ellis promised, and trotted ahead. Nick smiled, and picked up his coat. As strange as it was to put on a soaking wet jacket, it didn’t matter when the rest of you was soaking wet too.

            The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully, besides the usual infecteds coming out of the woodwork. A hairy situation involving a Charger was diverted when Rochelle used her sniper rifle to lay three bullets in it’s head, right before Coach was pummeled. All were shaken up when they felt the ground rumbling, as if something huge was running around the area. They had paused, waiting for it to move on or move towards them, but once the shakes had stopped for more than a few minutes, they continued forward. Nick had used his last cigarette, and knew that withdrawal was going to set in. Hopefully he’d remain distracted enough to not notice it.

            After the sun had set they moved to the side of the highway and into some wooded area where they could set up camp. Nick whistled ‘The Times They Are a Changin’” as he gathered firewood about ten yards away from base camp. That much closer to Brunswick with little injury other than the huge bruise across his chest and a slightly smelly jacket. He was getting good at picking off the usual infected. He’d timed out the best moment to swing his ax, as he wanted to hold on to his bullets for the bigger threats. He wasn’t about to be puked on again, no way.

            He cut down another infected, and yanked his ax out of it’s face with one rough tug. He’d even gotten so bold as to hit one in the face with the bag he’d been carrying and THEN axed it. Now it seemed that the area was quiet. They would definitely have to take watch seriously out here. No barred off doorways in the open air.

            He heard a footstep behind him, and turned around swiftly to see Ellis, holding up his hands.

            “It’s jus’ me,” he said, and Nick lowered his ax.

            “I’m going to have to put a bell around your neck,” he said, coolly.

            “How’s the kindlin’ comin’?” he asked, and Nick pointed at the pile he’d procured. “Not too bad. Coach says he’s gonna cook somethin’ real nice tonight.”

            “Let me guess. Soup?” Nick asked, and Ellis pointed at him, nodding.

            “You got it.”

            “How much water do we have left?” he asked.

            “Should be enough to get through the night at least,” Ellis said. “Let’s just pray we stumble upon another gas station that hasn’t been completely torn apart.” Nick nodded, and dropped one last branch on the pile of wood. “Shoot, kindlin’ is probably the best idea since sliced bread. B’fore we started usin’ kindlin’ on our campin’ trips we just used Girl Scout Water.”

            “… What?” Nick asked, thrown and perplexed.

            “Girl Scout Water. You know, lighter fluid,” Ellis clarified. “Heh, I remember this one time, my buddy Keith? He poured an entire CAN of lighter fluid on the pile of logs, but he didn’t realize that it got on his pants too, and-.”

            “Let me guess,” Nick interrupted. “This is like the deep fried turkey story and he got third degree burns over ninety percent of his body.”

            “Did I tell you that story?”

            “Yes, yes you did, on Tuesday.”

            “Oh, well no, it didn’t end up like that,” Ellis said, continuing. “It just lit up his pants, and his pants just went ‘voom!’ and completely disintegrated! It was amazin’! And he was all embarrassed, because this girl he liked named Tiffany had come along, and-.”

            “Okay, I get it,” Nick snorted, snatching up another branch to add to his pile. “Keith made an idiot of himself and it was ‘real funny’.”

            “Well, I guess that was a pretty self explanatory story,” the mechanic said, softly, and scratched his elbow. “…Hey Nick? Can I ask ya somethin’?”

            “What?” Nick asked, crossing his arms, and Ellis shrugged.

            “…. Did I do somethin’ t’ piss ya off?”

            Oh great. He hated having to reassure people that he wasn’t mad at them. Most of the time he’d just say that he WAS mad at them just to get them to stop pushing the topic, and then they’d stumble over themselves to apologize and that would be that. That was also usually a sign to Nick that it was time to jump ship on that relationship, be it romantic or not. But with Ellis, as the kid just looked at him worriedly, he didn’t have the heart to lie. Not when he looked that concerned. “Just cuz, last night, you seemed-.”

            “No, Overalls, I’m not mad at you,” he answered, quickly.

            Ellis sighed in relief. “Well that’s good t’hear. Because people tend to get mad at me a lot. Think I’m annoyin’ or dumb or somethin’.”

            “Well, you are annoying, but you aren’t dumb,” Nick replied, grinning slyly at him.

            “Oh… Well, that’s good, I guess,” Ellis said. “Cuz if I do piss ya off I want to know so you don’t just… ditch me like other friends have.”

            Usually such sob stories made Nick snort. But he felt that if he brushed it off it might hurt the kid, and he didn’t really want to do that, even if he didn’t understand it. “Don’t worry about me, Overalls. You’re almost all I have left in this world, so even if I AM mad at you, I’m not going anywhere, okay?” Ellis grinned, as if it was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to him, and grabbed Nick’s hand, shaking it vigorously. “Okay okay, I get it.” Nick pulled his hand away, and Ellis scratched his neck nervously.

            “I have another thing I want to ask,” he said, carefully.

            “… Sure, go for it, I guess.”

            “I guess it’s more of a statement,” he continued, moving his hand from his neck to his head. “Just want you to know that I’m not sore about what you said last night. Cuz it makes sense to me, alright? We should just focus on getting to the EC in Jacksonville. We got bigger shit to worry about, ya know?”

            Nick paused, surprised that it had actually been addressed. “Well.. Good. Glad you see it my way.” Ellis nodded, and helped him pick up the branches. Nick told himself that this was good, that he was relieved and that it would make the trip go that much smoother now that the sexual tension was gone. Except now that all the cards were on the table and Ellis agreed with him, he found his mood to become sourer than it already was. He blamed it on the lack of food during the day, and they carried the wood to the camp.

            He really hated the fact that as he followed Ellis, he was starting to fantasize about tossing the kindling to the ground, grabbing the hick, and slamming him into a tree for a quick, down and dirty make out session. He could almost smell the way Ellis was the other night, like cloves and spice, and while it probably wasn’t such a pleasant scent these days, he had a feeling that it would still be there, underneath the grime and gore. He could imagine the way the calloused hands felt on his back, could see himself turning him around and thrusting into him over, and over…

             Fuck he could use a cigarette. Instead he’d have to settle for soup.


	4. Chapter 4

Coach dropped a few soup cans into the fire and poked at them with a stick to keep them evenly heated. As soon as they had opened their meals, Coach became more peppy. More talkative.

            And as far as Nick was concerned, talking, really talking? It sucked.

            “So what’s everyone’s story here?” he asked, and Nick groaned. “Now come on, we’re all travelling together. May as well get to know each other.”

            “Want us to start singing Cumbaya around the fire too?” Rochelle asked, and Nick laughed, glad to see that she could be bitingly sarcastic.

            “Maybe we could do our nails and talk about how cute the quarterback is. Oh I HOPE he asks ME to the dance,” he sneered, and Rochelle giggled, shaking her head.

            “Naw, come on, he’s right,” Ellis said, coming to Coach’s aide. “What is it with you Yankees and being so private?” Nick didn’t know if that was directed at him, but before he could answer Rochelle was waving her hand.

            “Alright, fine,” she said. Wish she’d have put up more of a fight, Nick thought. “After all, it’s not like we Northerners have anything to hide.” Speak for yourself, toots. “Sure. I’m Rochelle. I’m a Gemini, from Ohio. I like long walks on the beach and candlelight dinners. Worked for a news station. I was sent to Savannah to cover the weird shit that was happening that turned out to be the Zombocalypse.”

            “….. So do you have family back in Ohio you want to get back to?” Coach asked, turning this way to pass the time into a heavy conversation. She paused a moment, and shook her head.

            “No. My Mom died of breast cancer when I was twenty four, and I never knew my Dad. I didn’t have a boyfriend or anything. I figured I’d have all the time in the world for that after I climbed the ladder at work. It’s kind of funny how now I don’t have either of those options anymore.”

            “You never know,” Coach said, and she gave him a grateful smile, even though she didn’t believe him. Hell, Nick wasn’t sure that Coach even believed himself.

            “What about you, Coach?” she asked. “Quid pro quo and all that.”

            “Alright, alright. I’m from Savannah. Just me and my wife Maria. I taught gym and health…” He trailed off, and Rochelle set her hand on his. “Maria was lucky. She went before this whole thing happened. Drunk driver, eight years ago. I used to think that I would have done anything to have her back, but now I’m glad that she never had to see this. She’d never have to see what her friends had turned into, like I had to see what my students turned into… Andy Jenkins, star quarterback on my team, he was going to go to The University of Texas eventually, I just knew it…. I saw him on the sidewalk tearing the intestines out of his cheerleader girlfriend when I passed by the school. I wish I’d never gone to check on the kids and just ran.”

            The campfire had grown really quiet, the only noises the sounds of the bugs and frogs. Ellis cleared his throat, and scratched his head.

            “It was me and my Mom,” he said, softly. “I’m a mechanic, I lived in her basement. See, I’m gonna make enough money to open my own garage, and she was nice enough to let me live with her still, even when her siblings told her to kick me out to be on my own. She was real understandin’ like that.” Nick smiled a little, but it was short lived, and Ellis’s usually happy face had a darkness fall over it. “Sorry to say, Coach, that my Mom didn’t get to miss this. I came upstairs late Wednesday morning. I slept in because I was… out late, thought that maybe I’d missed breakfast, cuz I didn’t smell eggs or bacon. I walked up the stairs and into the kitchen, and she was just standin’ there, starin’ at the wall and not movin’, until I said ‘good mornin’!’. She turned around, and I realized that she was…. Sick, I guess? Don’t know how it happened, don’t really care either. I thought that maybe she’d be okay, ya know? That maybe I could find a doctor and they’d fix her up. For a minute I actually thought that she’d be fine.

            “Until she ran at me, knocked me against the stove, tried to kill me. Her eyes…. They weren’t her eyes anymore, I reckon. They were just…. Crazy. So, I told her I was sorry, and that I loved her, and then I bashed her head in with the frying pan…”

            Rochelle had pulled her legs to her chest, wiping tears away from her face, and Coach just stared at the fire, trying not to betray any emotion. Nick’s jaw had gone slack, completely floored that this happy go lucky kid had gone through such an ordeal.

            “It’s a weird feeling, seeing something that looks like your Mom but just isn’t your Mom,” Ellis said, pensively. “So I went back into the city, tryin’ to find someone I knew. And hey! That’s when I found Nick here!”

            He pat Nick on the shoulder, and smiled, but Nick felt queasy. The other survivors had their eyes on him, expectantly. He had nothing to add, just as he hadn’t endured such loss as the rest of them had, be it in life or after the end of the world. And besides, he didn’t want to open up to any of them. It wasn’t their business what he had been through; his divorce, his estrangement from his family, how much he missed his daughter and how worried about her he was at this moment. Just because THEY all wanted to share didn’t mean that HE had to. He swallowed, and shook his head.

            “… Not much to tell,” he said. “Married young, divorced young. Haven’t spoken to my parents in years.” That was all they’d get.

            They were all wordless, and regretting this time to get to know each other. All they could do was eat their soup, and get ready for the evening.

            Nick’s watch had gone by uneventfully, save a couple of moments he’d had to use the ax, and now that he was finished he found himself envying the wildlife that had managed to avoid the new reality. He was cold lying on the ground, and therefore not sleeping too well. It didn’t help that he could hear Coach snoring by the campfire, even if it was fifteen feet away.

            He heard Ellis walking back to his place, as Rochelle stood up to go on watch. He listened as Ellis kept on walking, and he sat up. Where was the kid going at this hour? Coach had told them to stay close to the fire, and while he wasn’t really eager to listen to Coach, he thought that was a good idea.

            He followed Ellis to a small clearing, and watched him just lie down and stare up at the sky. It was clear that night, that was for sure. Nick looked up at the moon, and exhaled. A flawless night, in spite of it all. He strolled over, and sat down next to Ellis, who didn’t say anything to him. Nick lay down next to him, and rested the back of his head in his hands.

            “…. Sorry,” he said.

            “’Bout what?”

            Lots of things. “Your Mom.”

            “Oh…. Thanks.” Nick turned to look at him, and just studied his face. How could he stay so composed with everything he had lost? How could he just continue to smile and be so lighthearted? It had to be a coping mechanism, there was no way that Ellis could be perfectly okay.

            “… You’re nuts,” Nick said, curious, to the point of incredulity. “How do you keep going forward?”

            “…. I can’t change what’s happenin’,” Ellis answered, turning to look at him. “I mourned my Mom. Hell, I was devastated for awhile, but then it hit me: I was helpin’ her. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be one of those things, and she wouldn’t have wanted that either. So by killin’ her, I saved her. And she woulda wanted me to go on. So I’m goin’ on. I may not make it, but I’m gonna try. I mean, if I don’t…. That would kinda make everything pointless, right?”

            “…. Right,” Nick said, agreeing, and reached into his pocket to feel the necklace. “You’re right.” He cautiously reached out and pat Ellis’s arm, and let his hand linger a moment. Ellis looked down at it, and then at Nick, and they held the gaze for a few beats before Ellis moved his hand to his brief lover’s. Nick wasn’t sure if he should pull away. After all, he still believed that they needed to focus on getting to Brunswick, that he needed to focus on finding Daisy. He also didn’t want to get attached to someone else. When Cherie had left him, packed Daisy up and said that he was NOT getting any sort of custody, he had actually allowed himself to cry for a solid afternoon because he’d lost his little girl, his only connection. Since then he’d kept his distance from all people, afraid they’d wise up and leave him. While Ellis seemed to be the type who wouldn’t leave willingly (the kid had, after all, latched onto him in this situation), Nick couldn’t help but think about the ‘unwillingly’ scenario.

            And yet here he was, looking into the shiny eyes of this kid that he had only just met, and yet reluctantly liked. And he mentally retracted everything he had told himself, told Ellis, about how it meant nothing. This was why he never wanted to go beyond one night stands, because sometimes they ultimately MIGHT mean something.

            Temptation was worming it’s way into his mind, and he was about to move the hand up the shoulder to the face…

            But Ellis opened his mouth and asked, “So you were married huh?”

            FUCK why did he have to ruin EVERYTHING? Nick pulled his hand away, and looked back up at the sky, frowning. “Yep.”

            “That’s kinda funny, since you’re gay and all.”

            “I’m not gay.”

            “HA. You coulda fooled me the other night!” Nick felt his face flush, and he crossed his arms.

            “I like to consider myself not picky,” he replied. “Yes, I was married. No, it didn’t work out.”

            “How come?”

            “Well, two main reasons,” Nick said, and smiled a little. “The first was that she thought I was a selfish, reckless, irresponsible prick. Which I am. The second was that she didn’t like that I preferred the company of men to the company of her.”

            Ellis whistled, and laughed. “Man, that must have suuuucked when she found out you were cheating on her.”

            “It wasn’t the cheating in and of itself,” Nick said, a bemused grin spreading across his face. “When I came home with lipstick on my collar she didn’t ask questions. It was when she found out that I was a ‘fag’ that she divorced me. It was fine when I was sleeping with other women, but other MEN? Ho no. That wasn’t gonna fly with her, and she promptly filed for divorce.”

            Ellis frowned, and snorted. “Seems unfair to me.”

            “Well, that’s why I don’t like the South.”

            “Why’d ya even marry her if you didn’t like her all that much?” Ellis asked. Well, because of Daisy, of course.  He’d been nineteen, working Three Card Monte on Venice Beach, and he’d met the blonde and commanding Cherie one day at a bar. They’d both had fake IDs, and they’d both been drinking hard and fast. She went on about how she wanted to be a model, that Daddy had sent her out to Malibu with money and how SHE was going to be the next Christy Turlington. He’d been more drawn to the fact that she was so bold she had no problem wearing a huge sapphire necklace in such a dive bar, but then she never removed that necklace for anything, even these days as far as he knew. He’d listened to her inane blathering, hoping that he would at least get lucky at the end of the night. Which he did.

            Not so lucky two months later when she showed up at his Three Card Monte game railing about how he’d ‘gotten her in trouble’, as if SHE hadn’t lowered herself on him repeatedly while insisting on being on top, insisting he give it to her harder. She informed him that they had to get married. He didn’t know why he went along with it, but he did probably because he was young and stupid. Plus, a necklace like that one, it meant she came from money, which wasn’t too bad. He got a bad feeling about it when he’d been given a lecture by her father the night before the wedding, on how to ‘properly achieve a cohesive family unit’. He realized it was a full on mistake on their wedding day, when Cherie’s brother, Luke, slugged him in the mouth for smarting off about something he didn’t even recall anymore. Cherie had blamed Nick when he spit up blood on her wedding dress. Bad omens all around. Suffice to say it was a tense honeymoon and an even tenser four months left of the pregnancy. He had planned to divorce Cherie as soon as the kid arrived, so she could have her legitimate child and intact reputation and he could have his freedom.

            But when Daisy was born, any resentment Nick harbored towards his situation or his inability to remember a condom melted away. And when he held her for the first time he knew that SHE was going to be the only good thing he did with his life, and he wasn’t going to leave that behind. So the divorce was out of the question, at least at that point. He had thought that maybe he could love Cherie too, since Daisy was part of her.            

            So he’d tried for the ‘cohesive family unit’, but it had ultimately failed, which he could have told himself the moment he’d said ‘I do.’




            “I was young and stupid,” he replied, bitterly. Ellis nodded, and also went back to looking at the stars.

            “… Well I can understand that,” Ellis replied, and laughed a little bit, remembering something he and Keith had done. The older man smiled, and put his hands under his head again. “Young and stupid, that’s fun sometimes…” He stirred a bit, and knit his brow. “Kee-riste it’s cold out here.”

            Nick didn’t reply, but instead he sat up and removed his coat, handing it to the younger man, not saying a word and hoping that a big deal wouldn’t be made of it.

            “Aw shit, Nick, you don’t have to do that,” Ellis said, but Nick held up a hand.

            “I have long sleeves, you have that ratty tee shirt, just take it,” Nick replied, and turned over. “I’m going to sleep. Long day tomorrow.” Ellis held the coat in his hands, and then wrapped it around himself, feeling warmer already. He lay back down in the grass, and gently sniffed the fabric.

            Nick was nearly asleep, when he suddenly felt Ellis’s arm drape across him. He exhaled a bit, thinking that the kid was REALLY pushing it after the talk from the night before, but then decided to tell himself that he was probably just cold. So he let it slide. When he didn’t react, Ellis scooted closer until they were spooning. It was a bold move, a way to test the waters to see if Nick was still holding his resolve.

            I’m cold too, so this is fine, Nick convinced himself, and ignored the really irritating feeling of the knots rolling around in his stomach.

            And when Nick didn’t shove him away, Ellis smiled. It was a good sign.


	5. Chapter 5

It had been raining since noon, which made the walk more slow going than it already was. Between the abandoned cars that had piled up for miles on the highway and the lack of visibility, the survivors were getting more and more cranky. Even Ellis was complaining about the rain. There were no Keith stories coming from him today, but everyone was too caught up in their own thoughts to notice.

            Nick squinted ahead, and then yelped out a 'SHIT!' as a Smoker's tongue wrapped itself around his chest. He tried to aim through the rain, but couldn't see where he was pointing. When it began to constrict his trunk and pull him, he shouted in desperation and anger. He sure as hell wasn't going out like this: covered in grime, in the middle of a rainstorm.

            A shot went off and the tongue went limp. Nick inhaled quickly, and grabbed at his ribs, as it hurt to breathe. He looked up to see Rochelle, her hand outstretched. "You okay?"

            "Yeah… Thanks."

            "Well you hit that Hunter in the back of the head with your ax before it could tear me to shreds, I think we're even," she said, voice raised because of the rain. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

            "… Depends."

            "Are you and Ellis a couple?"

            Why the hell does she care? Nick wondered, and didn't try to hide an incredulous look that passed in front of his face. "Does it matter?"

            "It doesn't, but if you are it would be nice to know," Rochelle said. "So we can figure out where allegiances are."

            "What is this, some crappy reality show?" he asked, snorting. "There aren't any secret pacts or backstabbing plots, if that's what you're worried about."

            "I'm more worried that you'd lose sight of the main goal in favor of your own interests."

            "What is THAT supposed to mean?" Nick exclaimed, suddenly angry. Of all the times to start questioning his loyalty, she had to wait until he was already in a piss poor mood due to rain and possibly cracked ribs. "What 'own interests'? Mine are the same as all yours, I want to get out of here alive! What does Ellis have to do with that?"

            "… Listen Nick," she began, and stopped walking, taking his arm to make him stop too, "it's important to know just how much you two mean to each other. We all need to know each other's relationships so we know who has what priority to each person in a given situation."

            "That's ludicrous."

            "Is it?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. "Fine, I'll just throw a scenario out there. Let's say that me and Ellis are incapacitated, and you could only save one of us. Who would it be?"

            "Seeing as I'm pretty sure that he is the ONLY person who would have MY back in such a situation, I'm gonna have to pick Ellis," he answered, not even hesitating. "But that has NOTHING to do with whether or not we're a couple."

            Before she could reply, they both heard Ellis cry out in glee. "Hey look! There's a bakery offa that off ramp!"

            "Bakery?" both Rochelle and Nick said, and put aside their differences for the moment to find Ellis and Coach.

            "YES! Aunt Ruthie's Bakery!" Coach exclaimed, suddenly joyous.

            "Your aunt has a bakery?" Rochelle asked.

            "No no no, that's just what the place is called," Coach replied, shaking his head. "But I wish she had been my aunt! I love those muffins more than I love my Mama!"

            "I would seriously cut off my left nut for a muffin," Ellis exclaimed, and began to rush ahead. "And to be dry. AND to have a shower!"

            "You're just hedging your bets so you don't have to give up your left nut, aren't you?" Nick called, and Ellis grinned, caught.

            "You can't be too careful, and you'd probably make me do it too."

            "We should see if they have any food left," Rochelle stated. "Besides stale and moldy muffins."

            "Aw no Rochelle, Ruthie's muffins NEVER went stale," Coach explained, hustling a bit faster. "I could leave them out on the counter for days and they would be just as soft as they were the day I bought them." She grimaced, wondering what was exactly IN these muffins.

            Nick kicked the door open, expecting a fight. But instead of a war zone, they found only a few bodies.

            "Hm, not much left," Coach said, and Ellis held up his gun as he searched bodies. "Any of them still moving?" Ellis shook his head, and turned one of the carcasses over. It looked to be that of an elderly woman zombie, body riddled with bullets. In fact, all the bodies were of the infected.

            "Oh NO!" Coach exclaimed, getting a good glimpse of the old woman.

            "What is it?" Nick asked, cocking his head to the side and looking at her in case he'd missed something.

            "Ah HELL," Coach said, voice beginning to choke with emotion.

            "Coach, what's wrong?" Rochelle asked, concerned. "What is it?"

            "It's Ruthie!" Coach whimpered, pointing at the old woman. "I can't believe those bastards got her!" Nick held his tongue, though he didn't see why Coach was so surprised. The zombies got most everyone.

            "Oh Coach, I'm sorry," Rochelle said, patting his back. "But do you know what this means? All these dead zombies, with bullet holes? There were people here before us."

            "Say, that's right!" Ellis said, voice excited. "That's great news! If they did it, that means maybe WE can do it!" Had it been anyone else, Nick would have spat out some pessimistic remark. But it was Ellis, and he was just relieved the kid had spun it in a positive light. Coach nodded, wiped away a tear, and said a silent prayer for the baker.

            They began to search the place. It not only felt nice to get out of the rain, but there were a few muffins left that weren't destroyed or slobbered on by zombies.

            "Muffins are pretty much evil," Rochelle said, taking a large bite of a pumpkin morsel. "Do you know that there's probably eight hundred calories in this one muffin alone? Horrible!"

            "Aw but Rochelle, how many calories does it take to kill a zombie?" Ellis asked, his choice being banana chocolate chip. "And remember you've been doin' it, like, EVERY DAY for the past few days." She shrugged, and wolfed down the breakfast cake before reaching for a second one. Nick picked up the tried and true blueberry muffin, and sniffed it. He always preferred them hot out of the pan, and his eyes fell towards the kitchen. Maybe there would be a working oven in there.

            "I'm gonna check the kitchen for more supplies," Nick said, embarrassed to suggest he was that invested in making this muffin the best damn muffin he'd ever had. But as far as he was concerned, he deserved it.

            He opened the door and saw an infected huddled in the corner. He raised an eyebrow, and the creature slowly turned, noticing the change in environment. Nick aimed his shotgun with one hand, pastry cradled in the other, and pulled off a clean head shot. It wouldn't be correct to say that Nick hadn't participated in violent acts before this. There were a few things in his past that he wasn't proud of, but as far as he was concerned they were for self preservation or to keep those he cared about safe. But after he'd committed such acts, he hadn't ever felt hungry. Now he was revving up to eat after splashing brains across the wall and linoleum floor. It is what it is, he thought, and turned back to the cooking space.

            Ellis opened up the door to the kitchen, and saw the zombie on the floor before seeing Nick leaning against the sink, examining his nails. "Whoa. I guess you took care of it."

            "Yep," Nick nodded, and Ellis walked over. "Not a big deal. It gets easier."

            "Yeah, it does," Ellis agreed. "But it's never easy to see the ones that're younger than me." Nick's mind went back to the teenage girl at the gas station, and he shoved it out of his head before he started thinking about Daisy. "Say, I noticed that you an' Rochelle were talkin'. Is she alright?"

            "She's a nosy pain in the ass is what she is," Nick replied, taking off his coat and squeezing water from it like a wet rag. "Dammit. This is going to shrink, I just know it… How's Coach?"

            Ellis shrugged, unhappily. "He's sad. I guess this place meant a lot to him when he was a kid."

            "Well, things are tough all over," Nick groused, putting his coat back on and grimacing in pain. "Christ, my chest hurts."

            "Those Smokers have a serious hard on for you," Ellis smirked. It was true. It seemed that whenever they were all in a group, the Smokers would single him out. This was the fourth one that had gotten him, but while the others had managed to snag his ankle or an arm, this was the first time it had roped his chest. And it hurt like a motherfucker.

            "Yeah, well, wouldn't be the first time that happened," Nick stated, and Ellis turned away a bit to hide his flushed cheeks. "Do I emote some kind of pheromone or something? Do they think I'm a girl zombie in serious need of head?"

            "That's gross," Ellis responded as Nick removed his muffin from the oven, switching it off. "Zombies having sex…. Yuck…. What did she say?"

            "What?"

            "What did Rochelle say to you? You looked pretty pissed at her."

            Nick made a noncommittal noise, and shrugged. "She thinks that I'd screw over the group to meet my own needs."

            "Aw, that's not true."

            "Or that I'd be more concerned about your well being than the group's well being," he continued, and Ellis wrinkled his nose.

            "She said that?"

            "In so many words," Nick replied, irked.

            "….. Would you be?"

            "Well seeing as you're the only one who even remotely trusts me…. Shit, I don't know," he admitted. "Maybe."

            Ellis wasn't sure how to respond to that. On one hand, he knew that the entire group was important, and that they should all be there for each other no matter what. But at the same time, it was flattering that Nick would put him above the others. Especially since he would probably do the same for him, not that he'd let on to Rochelle or Coach of this fact."….. So what if the rain doesn't stop? Think we should stay here tonight?"

            "I want to keep moving, we're getting really close to Brunswick," Nick said, closing the oven again and taking a bite of the dessert.

            "Well, I think that Coach said that we should just hunker down, let this rain pass over us." Nick swallowed in time to scowl.

            "Fuck the rain, we should keep going," Nick replied, hotly, and chomped on the rest of the cake. Hm, this is a damned good muffin.

            "…. Honestly, Nick, I think we should wait," Ellis said, evenly. "The rain could get worse, we could get completely turned around."

            "How hard is it to just follow the highway?" Nick spat, mouth full. He swallowed before he continued. "Just follow the asphalt, right? Why should we stop when we could make it to Brunswick by noon tomorrow?"

            "Because if we get all flipped it could be longer than noon tomorrow!" Ellis exclaimed, wondering why Nick was being so stubborn all of a sudden. "Coach is right. And if we vote on it, I'll hafta vote that we stay. It's safer for all've us."

            Before he could start berating the kid for his abrupt complicity, Nick noticed that there was something on the wall, behind the recent bloodstain. He held up a finger at Ellis and walked forward, lifting his flashlight.

            "What is it?" Ellis asked, cocking his head to the side.

            Someone had spray painted a crude arrow, pointing towards the back corner of the kitchen. Nick drew his beam across the wall in that direction, and began to get excited. "Ro was right, there were other survivors here for sure." He rushed through the kitchen, Ellis following him, and found that there was a corner that led to an up staircase. Along the wall someone, potentially the same tagger, had painted another arrow, and a house shape. "Holy shit."

            "What?" Ellis asked, looking over Nick's shoulder, and then a broad grin spread across his face, almost as broad a grin as Nick's, when his eyes fell on the red steel door at the top of the steps. "It's a goddamn safe room!"

            "Fuckin' A it's a safe room!" Nick whooped, raising his fist in triumph, and put an arm around Ellis' shoulders. Ellis returned the gesture, though it made him flush a bit (dammit, El, pull it together, he thought), and Nick squeezed him close briefly, elated. "You get the others, I'll sweep it and make sure it's clear."

            "Got it!" Ellis nodded, off like lightning, and Nick raised his ax, ascending the steps. He slowly opened the heavy door, and peeked inside.

            It was sparse, but could have contained riches as far as he was concerned. There was ammo, unused first aid kits, a few bottles of pain pills, even some home made Molotovs and pipe bombs. "Oh yeah, this makes up for that fucking Smoker." The others approached him from behind, and paused just as he had.

            "What have we found here?" Coach asked, voice catching with excitement.

            "I know what it is. It's Shangri-La," Rochelle murmured, and all of them stepped inside.

            "I was starting to believe the safe houses were a myth," Coach said, going straight for the ammo.

            "CEDA ones are, this one's civilian," Rochelle postulated. "Look at the spray paint, the jury rigged window bars. This reeks of crazy libertarians."

            "I never thought I'd be thankful for crazy libertarians," Nick said, reaching for pain pills right away. "It was generous and stupid of them to leave these for us."

            "Hey look what's in this footlocker!" Ellis exclaimed, and pulled out cans of food and jugs of water. "FOOD!"

            "Tell me it's more than just canned soup," Rochelle said, rushing to him to get a look at the bounty. "Peaches! Pineapple! Oranges! I never thought I'd eat fruit again!"

            Nick scanned the wall with his flashlight, trying to figure out who had set this place up. Whoever it was, they did a bang up job, recreating everything CEDA had promised but never delivered. He picked up a jar of green slime, slime he was very familiar with, and wrinkled his nose.

            "They were nuts, they bottled Boomer puke," he said, but shoved it in his bag anyway. Might come in handy. He looked back at the notes written on the wall, seeing what those before him had deemed important enough to say. It was the usual, notes left from one person to another, random graffiti about the end of the world. A lot of Bible quotes. But one message caught his eye, and he flat out barked "Oh for FUCK'S sake!"

            "What is it?" Rochelle asked, and Nick snorted, pointing at one of the messages, addressed to none other than Ellis. "Hey Ellis! Think this could be for you?" Ellis looked up from bandaging up his hand, and his eyes lit up brighter than Nick had ever seen them.

            "KEITH!" he shouted, positively giddy, and rushed to the message. Nick shook his head, wondering if they would ever be rid of the spectre that was Keith. " 'Ellis, hope you stumble on this safe house. Me and some others came through today, October 9th, and I told them to leave stuff for you. Don't worry about me, we'll get to meet Jimmy Gibbs Junior someday-'."

           "What, the stock car driver?" Nick interrupted, irately.

            "Hell yeah! The BEST stock car driver EVER! 'Hope to see you in New Orleans, that's where I'm headed. It's one last strong hold I hear tell. See you on Bourban Street! Keith.' Aw Keith! That's the best news I've heard in a long time!"

            "That is good news, Ellis," Coach said, smiling slowly, and Rochelle pat Ellis' back. "Gives ya hope, doesn't it?"

            "It sure does," Ellis said. "Man oh man. I can't wait to tell him about all the stuff we've been doin', he's gonna get a real kick out of it, I just know it!" Nick couldn't listen anymore. He had plummeted from rather pleased to incredibly rotten minded, and he picked up his gun.

            "Well while you guys get all excited over a few barely legible scribbles on the wall left by some hick, I'm going up to the roof and making sure we're in the clear!" he snarled, and stormed up the steps. Sure, it was immature, and it was an asshole thing to do, but he didn't care.

            As soon as they heard the small door to the roof close, Coach shook his head.

            "That boy is starting to get on my last nerve," he stated, and Rochelle nodded in agreement.

            "I think it might be time to… Well, make some decisions," she said, and Ellis slowly looked over at her, skeptically.

            "Howdya mean?" he asked, eyes narrowing. She scratched the back of her head, fully aware that Ellis was not going to like what she had to say, but knew that it had to be said anyway.

            "…. Sweetie, I think that we need to seriously ask if we can afford to have someone like Nick in our group," she said, evenly.

            "…. Someone like Nick," Ellis repeated, voice calm, but obviously affronted by the implied meaning behind her words. "Well tell me, Ro, what exactly d'ya mean by that?"

            "Now hang on, Ellis, let's all just calm down," Coach said, holding up his hands.

            "No, I want to know just what exactly she means by that," Ellis responded, hands on his hips. "What do you mean 'someone like Nick'?" Rochelle sat down on the footlocker, nonchalantly cleaning her gun.

            "He's negative, he's closed off, and he seems like he would throw us under the bus if he could gain something from it," she responded. "I don't like having someone like that in our group. I say that we let him go if he wants to go…. Or even just, you know, leave."

            "This is crazy," Ellis stated, shaking his head, starting to get angry. "We all stick together, that is what we said-!"

            "Son, don't get upset," Coach said, putting a hand on his shoulder, but Ellis pulled away sharply. "She has the same concerns that I do. We need to ask ourselves if we can trust him."

            "Y'all are bein' ridiculous," the mechanic sneered. "And anyway, this'd be the kinda thing we'd hafta vote on, and I would NOT vote for that. No way."

            "Ellis-."

            "Look, just cuz you two don't know Nick very well, it doesn't mean you can just give up on him!" Ellis scolded. "You don't know him like I do, okay?"

            "And how well DO you know him?" Rochelle asked, causing Ellis to bite his lip. He'd hoped that question wouldn't come up. After all, sure, he hadn't known Nick long, but why should time matter? He felt that substance counted, and their interactions, from The Roost to night before in the woods, made him feel like he could tell Nick anything. Of course, that wouldn't count in his companion's eyes, so he did what he thought best.

            He lied. "I know him real well. Know practically everything about him."

            Coach and Rochelle exchanged glances, probably wondering if it was true, so he charged on. "He's not a bad person, he's just…. He's just tired! And, and somethin's been botherin' him!"

            "Well I suggest that he get over it, or I'm going to give him a piece of my mind," Rochelle muttered, looking through her scope.

            "Like ya did earlier today?" Ellis asked, tone low. She paused momentarily, but then didn't respond. "…. Look, it ain't right to just give up on someone cuz they're pissin' you off, especially these days."

            Coach sighed, and nodded, reluctantly. "He's right, Ro."

            Rochelle finished fiddling with her weapon, and nodded too, unable to look Ellis in the eyes. "… I know…. I know you're right…. But yeah, talk to him. Tell him to stop being such an asshole."

            Ellis nodded, relieved he had talked them down from their hasty stance. "He may be an asshole, but he's our asshole. I'll go talk to him."

            "He's lucky to have such an understanding friend, son," Coach said, as Ellis began to climb the small staircase. "I hope he knows that." Ellis wasn't sure that Nick did, and he wasn't going to tell him of his loyalty, since the conspiracy that brought it forward in the first place would probably piss him off, so much so that he WOULD leave. And Ellis would, of course, go with him, but he felt that if they all helped each other it would work out best for all of them.

            "I think he does," he replied, feeling confident in the answer. And if he didn't, Ellis was going to make sure he DID know.


	6. Chapter 6

Nick stepped up onto the roof, and was pleased to see that the rain had stopped. Maybe they could get a move on. Or maybe they could just stay and rest in a place that was reinforced by steel doors and lots of ammo. As much as he wanted to get to Daisy, he also wanted to heal so he wouldn’t end up a burden to her, or Ellis, or even Coach and Rochelle. And besides, they would out-vote him, and he wasn’t going to go it alone, especially since Smokers had a real hard on for him, as Ellis said.

            He reached into his pocket, and remembered he didn’t have any more cigarettes. He hadn’t even noticed the withdrawal symptoms, his body must have had more on it’s mind. He sat down on the rough shingles, and rested his hands on his knees. The sun had started to set, and they sky was starting to bleed red and pink. He sighed, and scanned the ground. Some infecteds were wandering around, but they weren’t interested in him. Not right now anyway. Even if they were, he had the shotgun with him.

            He’d never met Keith, but he knew that he hated him. He hated that a note from this unknown Good Ol’ Boy could make Ellis beam like the sun, hated that he’d never made Ellis laugh as much as Keith had, and hated that he felt this way.

            The door to the roof opened, and Nick turned briefly to see Ellis. And man did he look like a wounded puppy. Nick groaned, feeling guilty, and turned back to the sunset. Ellis walked over, and sat next to him.

            “Can I sit here?” he asked, and Nick scoffed.

            “You already have.”

            “Oh…. Is it okay?”

            “….. Whatever. Do what you want.” Ellis nodded, and looked out over the sunset too.

            “… So I guess I gotta ask again. Are you mad at me or somethin’?”

            “No, I’m not mad at you. I just thought that we’d get to go one day without a story about that lunkhead Keith,” Nick muttered.

            “Well I’m real happy he left me that note,” Ellis said, smiling to himself and rocking in place slowly, like a bored child. “Real nice of him. Good to know he’s still alive.”

            “As of two days ago he’s still alive,” Nick grumbled.

            “I know Keith, he’s gonna be okay. He’s real tough. Until I see his dead body, or zombie Keith, he’s alive in my mind. This one time, he was rolled by a gator-.”

            “I don’t care about Keith!” Nick snapped.

            “…. Why do you hate Keith so much? He didn’t do nothin’ to you,” Ellis said, upturning his chin in defiance. Nick huffed, and leaned forward.

            “…. You just don’t even shut up about him.”

            “Well, I told you. He’s my best friend.”

            “Your eyes lit up pretty bright just for him to be your best friend,” Nick said, finally looking over at him. Ellis had a confused look on his face for a moment, but then he pieced it together.

            “You’re jealous of Keith,” he said, and smiled triumphantly.

            “I’m not jealous of Keith-.”

            “YOU are jealous of Keith! You are!” Ellis laughed, and clapped his hands once in amusement. “Lordy, Nick, you can’t say that with a straight face! You wear your jealousy like an apron, like my Mom used to say-.”

            “Okay, fine! Yes, I’m jealous of Keith!” Nick spat, fiercer than he meant to, because it tormented him. “I’m jealous of Keith, I’m jealous that you got a message on the wall, I’m just jealous of the entire situation!”

            Ellis quieted down, noticing that it wasn’t funny to Nick, and sighed. “Well come on, Nick. Sure I’m happy to see that note from him. He’s my best friend. And that’s all, I swear.” He scratched his head, and his smile turned into something sadder. “Yeah, at one point I really liked him. Really, really liked him. But he wasn’t interested, he’s real into girls. REAL into girls…. Has that ever happened to you?”

            “Has what happened to me?”

            “Have you ever liked someone all unreturned like?” he asked, curiously. He didn’t believe that people COULDN’T be attracted to Nick, but you never knew. Nick smirked, remembering way back. Eighth grade. Charlie Akers. Nick’s first crush on a guy. He of course had shown his affection by being snide and sarcastic towards the kid, as Charlie didn’t exactly have pig tails to pull on. After weeks of that, Nick had actually kissed him under the bleachers, luring him there under the false guise of issues of Hustler he’d swiped from his uncle. Instead of Hustler, Charlie got the shyest and most hesitant kiss Nick had ever given anyone in his life. In return Nick got a punch to the mouth and a suspension from school for ‘harassing’ the kid, not to mention quite the beating from his Dad for kissing another boy. Nick really hated that Charlie Akers after that. Mainly because Charlie didn’t like him the way he was supposed to.

            He had a feeling it hadn’t gone down like that for Keith and Ellis.

            “Sure, who hasn’t had that happen?” he settled on, not interested in going into details.

            “Yeah, it sucks….. But you don’t think that I was really happy to see you in that jewelry store? You were the best thing I’d seen in a long time. And I know that it’s kind of the same thing, since you don’t feel that way for me, but-.”

            “Oh that’s bullshit and you know it,” Nick snapped.

            “… It is?”

            “Don’t play the naïve swamp rat with me, Ellis, it won’t work,” Nick growled.

            “Hey, I ain’t playin’, it’s news to me!”

            Nick exhaled, trying to let the frustration out along with the breath, and closed his eyes. There was no way he was getting out of this conversation. So he may as well lay all his cards on the table. “Do you have any idea how hard it has been for me to keep my hands off of you these past couple of days? How badly I’ve just wanted to…. To just grab you, and…..” He trailed off, the thought of it alone making him uncomfortably stimulated.

            “…. So why haven’t you?” Ellis asked, voice low, almost begging an answer, as if he’d been wondering it the entire time but hadn’t wanted to ask.

            “…. Because! I don’t let myself get attached to people, because if I get attached and lose you….. It’s happened before and I don’t handle it well,” Nick finally admitted, and snorted as if it pained him to do so. “Dammit, Ellis.”

            “Hey man, I’m not going anywhere!” Ellis said, smiling as best he could, though the sudden honesty from his friend was sort of scaring him.

            “No, not willingly you aren’t, but in case you haven’t noticed, life expectancies are KIND OF dropping as of late,” Nick replied. “So I figured that if I didn’t get attached, it wouldn’t hurt if you were taken away from me.”

            Ellis removed his hat, and scratched his head, thinking deeply. Actually pondering. It wasn’t something Nick was used to seeing, but Ellis was definitely trying to formulate just what to say. “…. It would still hurt, Nick. And you’d also wish you’d used the time we had. So I think it would hurt more. I know for me it would hurt more that way.”

            Nick chewed the inside of his cheek, and turned back to Ellis, who was looking at him with raised eyebrows. He knew the kid was waiting for a response, and worried about the answer.

            Ah, what the hell? Nick thought, and went in for the kiss. Which was willingly accepted. This time, instead of drunken and sloppy kisses that were merely lead ups to sex, it was a kiss filled with caring and apprehension. As they wrapped their arms around each other, it became obvious that at the moment, that was all that mattered. Ellis didn’t have to constantly but privately relive killing his mother, and Nick didn’t have to worry about his daughter. They just had to hold each other. Nick moved his hands to Ellis’ cheeks, and ran them through his hair, tossing the hat down so he could feel the curly tresses in his fingers. Ellis did the same, and then pulled Nick close again. They removed their lips, and rested their foreheads against each other.

            “This will probably be the death of me,” Nick muttered, and Ellis smiled. “Promise you don’t bring up any stupid ass stories when we’re like this.”

            “Can’t promise. But I’ll try not to.”

            “That’s good enough for now…. Dammit.”

            “What?”

            “….. I’m pretty sure I’m going to fuck this up.”

            “Now why d’ya think that?” Ellis asked, surprised.

            “Because that’s what I always do.” Of course, to be fair, he’d never tried very hard to maintain a relationship. Now that he was actually feeling invested he was getting a little nervous.

            “….. Maybe not,” Ellis said, just as they heard Coach guffaw about something Rochelle must have said.

            “What are we going to do about those two down there?” Nick asked, rolling his eyes as he broke the embrace.

            “Who cares what they think?”

            “I don’t care what they think, I just wish that they would go away for a bit so we could have some privacy without having to scale a roof,” Nick said, and Ellis shrugged. “Now I’m REALLY regretting going with them.”

            “…. Do you really hate them that much?” Ellis asked, hesitant. Nick paused, realizing that sometimes his grouchy persona didn’t really sit well with the kid. And the last thing he wanted to do was put Ellis in the middle, since he DID get along with Ro and Coach seemingly all the time and would be a mediator between him and them. So he slowly shook his head.

            “No, Overalls, I don’t,” he assured him.

            “Okay…. Maybe you should let them know that, then.”

            Nick scoffed. “Oh, should I write them long apologies and give them flowers?”

            “NO, just…. Just don’t be a jerk all the time.”

            “But… I AM a jerk all the time.”

            “Aw, come on, Ni-!”

            “Christ, I’m joking,” Nick replied, and snorted at the prospect of playing nice with Rochelle and Coach, especially when the two of them had been such thorns in his side. But Ellis was once again giving those damn hangdog eyes. “….. Whatever. So long as they don’t piss me off I’ll be okay.”

            Ellis hid a smile. He knew that he’d definitely gotten just what he’d wanted from Nick, but wasn’t going to show that he knew. Let the guy think he was mister sneaky. “Maybe the next safe room will be an actual house,” he offered instead. “With rooms, and a shower, and a washer and dryer-.”

            “Keep dreaming, kid,” Nick said, and turned back towards the door. “As much as I hate to say it…We should go back down there.”

            “Probably.” They reluctantly did so, knowing they would much prefer to sit on the roof together, perhaps pick up where they had left off, but there was a time and place for everything.

            They actually had a fairly decent meal of bread, canned fruit, and somewhat peppy conversation. If Coach and Rochelle noticed that Nick and Ellis were sitting so close they were touching, neither said anything. Of course, Ellis knew not to do anything more than sit close to the con man, as he would shut himself off again at the speed of light. Ellis knew that it probably wasn’t out of embarrassment, but it still was a little hurtful. But being the eternal optimist, he thought that time would heal that neurotic tendency.

            Coach had suggested that they forgo the watch that night, since they were behind enforced doors, and everyone agreed. It would be nice to have a full night’s sleep for once, even if it was on the floor of a cramped attic. Nick was going to sleep like the dead, he knew it.

            “If the rain holds off we could make it to Brunswick by tomorrow evening,” Coach said, making a place for himself in one of the four corners. “We just have to keep a good pace and pray a bit.”

            “I hope you’re right,” Rochelle said, though she wasn’t sure why Brunswick was any better than where they were at the moment. If anything it would be worse, since it was a largely populated area.

            Nick glanced over at Ellis, who was writing on the wall and adding to the personal notes. “What are you doing?”

            “Writin’ back to Keith.”

            “Why are you doing that?” Nick asked, snorting. “He’s moved on, he won’t be coming back to see it.” Ellis stopped writing a moment, and then shrugged.

            “That’s true, I guess. Still, I’m gonna finish it. This way I can leave something behind, you know? Leave my mark on the world like all the others have,” he explained. “Somethin’ of mine is gonna live on… You should try it.”

            “I’m good, thanks.” Ellis held out the marker to him, though, and Nick reluctantly accepted it. “Fine, if it will get you off my back.”

            “And hey, you said that no one wrote you anything earlier,” Ellis continued, remembering their earlier conversation. “You shouldn’t feel bad about that. They’re all in Brunswick. Like you said, no reason for them to come up here.” Nick nodded, and wrapped his fingers around the marker. He was tempted to write something of value, like Ellis was trying to do. But being unable or unwilling to open up like that (again), he decided to go with what he was feeling at that exact moment.

            Which happened to translate to ‘I want a glass of Scotch. – Nick’.

            “Very nice,” Rochelle said, sarcastically, and covered herself with one of the blankets. “Glad to see you can take things seriously, Nick.” She was obviously still stinging a bit, and Ellis was going to give her a dirty look, but Nick was too fast.

            “Tell ya what, Ro, when all this blows over? I’m taking you out for a nice Flirtini. That’s what girls like isn’t it?” he asked. It came off as incredibly sexist, and Ellis was going to elbow him, but Rochelle actually smiled, shaking her head.

            “Please, you’re buying me straight whiskey,” she responded.

            “Pick your poison.”

            “Glenfiddich, bitch.”

            “You got it.” She giggled a little, and turned over. Though Nick didn’t see it, Ellis was downright grinning, his personal mission complete and successful.

            As they were falling asleep, they could feel the ground rumbling. Nick pulled the blanket around him more, hoping he’d be able to tune it out. But even after it stopped, he found himself straining to feel it, convinced it was still out there. He wasn’t sure what he was feeling anymore as he let his eyes droop finally, but he knew that he felt Ellis’ arm draped across his chest, for the second time in as many nights, and decided that was the only thing to think about.


	7. Chapter 7

Leaving the safe house was a necessary evil. As much as they all liked it there, they had to move on, just as the others before them had. Rochelle had voted to take as much as they could with them, but Coach was adamant to leave some things behind, to continue the altruism. Ultimately Coach won, as Ellis thought it was the right thing to do and Nick abstained from voting. He was more interested in getting on the road than what they should bring with them.

            “Just keep on going,” Coach chanted, more to himself than the others, though they listened. “We can make it to Brunswick tonight if we try.”

            “Be on the look out for working cars,” Rochelle said, shooting an infected in the brush. “And, you know, zombies.”

            Nick was about to say something, when there was a soft wailing coming from up ahead. He lowered his weapon, and shushed them. “Do you guys hear that?” Ellis followed suit, and paused. “Is that crying?”

            “Sounds like it to me,” Ellis confirmed, and was about to call out, but Coach clamped a hand across his mouth.

            “Just keep walking and pick up the pace,” he hissed, firmly.

            “What? Why? It could be someone who needs help,” Rochelle said, surprised and alarmed that he was reacting in such a pitiless way.

            “Believe me, Ro, she doesn’t need anyone’s help,” he said, and motioned for them all to follow. “Just go around the cars and leave her be.”

            “Excuse me, I’m sorry, but are you going to explain what exactly is going on-?” Nick began, but Coach shushed him resolutely and continued around the cars. Glaring, Nick followed, but kept any eye out in the jumbled mess of vehicles to see who was crying. He stopped momentarily, catching glimpse of an emaciated looking woman sitting by herself, rocking back and forth. Before he could get a better look, Ellis had grabbed him by the arm, pulling him with. No Nonsense Ellis rarely showed himself, but when he did it was commanding, so Nick didn’t fight it and kept on walking. The sobs faded into the distance, and were soon forgotten.

            “…. Hey Nick, can I ask you a question?” Ellis asked as the two of them trailed behind Coach and Rochelle.

            “You’re going to ask it anyway, so go ahead,” Nick replied.

            “Why do you think that we didn’t turn into zombies?” Ellis asked, earnestly. “I mean, lots of people got real sick, but we didn’t. We’ve been scratched, hit, puked on, hell, even bit, and we aren’t like them.”

            “…. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor,” Nick said, slowly. Up until this point he had been referencing pop culture for his zombie knowledge. Now that it was actually happening, it didn’t feel like Romero had gotten it right. “Well… Okay, so let’s assume CEDA is right and it’s spread by a virus. Like a really fucking crazy version of rabies. Maybe we’re just immune or something. So as long as we aren’t ripped apart by them we’ll be okay. Not too shabby.”

            “Neat!”

“Uh, yeah, ‘neat’.”

“Well it is KINDA neat. And besides, I think I’d rather go out fightin’ than sick in bed anyway,” Ellis confided. “Wonder what makes us so special?”

            “Don’t know,” Nick responded. “Maybe we aren’t, maybe it just takes longer for us. Wouldn’t THAT suck?”

            “Yeah… Why’d you have to bring that up?”

            “Hey, you’re the one who brought up the topic in the first place, I’m just postulating,” the older man said, and aimed his gun at a long off Spitter, shooting it. “HA. Take that you saggy titted bitch.”

            “Good one!” Rochelle called from ten yards ahead, and Nick gave her a thumbs up. He’d let her comments from the day before slide off his back. There wasn’t any use in holding grudges, so he just dropped it and told himself he wouldn’t be angry if she wouldn’t be. And she didn’t seem to be, so that was that. It was ironic that the Zombocalypse made him more Zen. Or maybe it was his sudden desire to mollify the young mechanic who was jabbering away next to him, laughing at his own jokes and enthusiastic about anything and everything.

            “I think that I’d rather be a vampire than a zombie though,” Ellis continued, pensively. “Cuz vampires are all tricky an’ stuff. Zombies don’t really have a brain left in ‘em, do they? Vampires are the way to go. But I like being out in the sun, so maybe not vampires. Oh, I know, WEREWOLVES. Hell yeah, I wanna be a werewolf! That’d only mess you up, like, once a month or somethin’! Yep, I call dibs on the werewolf. What do you wanna be, Nick?”

            “…. Can I just be a normal person?”

            “Well sure, if ya wanna be at a disadvantage you can.”

            “Fine…. I guess I want to be a…. wizard?”

            “THAT’S a good one! Like Harry Potter!”

            “No no no, not like Harry Potter,” Nick protested, finding himself invested in this fantasy world for some reason or another. “Why am I even arguing this? This is asinine.”

            “Well I think it’s kinda fun.”

            Walking all day with little activity beyond a few small groups of infected was a relief to all of them, even if it made them a little nervous. It was late afternoon and they had little exertion lost by the time they started seeing signs for Brunswick on the highway. Nick’s heart began to beat a bit faster with each passing moment, and by the time the sun had started to lower itself in the sky they were a half mile away from Brunswick’s exit ramp.

            “I wonder if they aren’t just killing each other and making our lives easier?” Coach mused.

            “Wouldn’t that be great?” Rochelle asked, just as a Charger’s roar ripped through the autumn air.

            “Uh oh,” Coach muttered. “Where is it? Anyone have visual?”

            “Nuh uh,” Ellis replied, his vague anxiety kicking up to fear. They all raised their weapons, but made that one mistake that they still hadn’t quite figured out: they clumped together. So when the Charger burst from across the way, it bowled the three men over as it grabbed Rochelle by the leg. She cried out as it shook her like a ragdoll, slamming her back into the ground, and Nick rolled over, shooting frantically. Ellis and Coach had done the same, and the Charger soon fell over, defeated by their artillery.

            “Ro!” Coach cried, rushing to her as Nick and Ellis pulled themselves up a bit slower. That wasn’t helping Nick’s ribs from the day before, and he winced as he combed the area for any other mutated infected.

            “I think I’m okay, my back just hurts like a sunnuvabitch,” Rochelle said, as Coach pulled her up. “Not broken though. I can still feel my legs.”

            “That’s good,” Coach said, but leapt a little when she screamed out. “What’s wrong?!”

            “My knee,” she moaned, sitting back down on the ground. Coach pulled her pant leg up, and made a face.

            “THAT is twisted pretty badly,” he said, and Rochelle whimpered, leaning forward.

            “FUCK,” she said. “Great. Just great. Well, you guys may as well put me out to pasture because I’m going to just slow you down.”

            “Don’t talk like that,” Coach scolded. “So we have to change the plan a little bit.”

            “Hold on, how so?” Nick asked, a bad feeling seeping into his stomach. “HOW are we changing the plan?” Coach straightened up, knowing that Nick was not going to like what he had to say.

            “We keep seeing signs of civilian placed safe houses down the highway,” he said. “The way I figure it is that they go all the way to Jacksonville. We hole up in one a couple of days while Rochelle’s knee heals. Then we make up those days and continue to Jacksonville by skipping Brunswick.”

            “No way,” Nick said, shaking his head.

            “Nick, she’s hurt,” Coach stated. “She needs to heal and we need all the time we can get. Brunswick isn’t in the cards anymore-.”

            “The hell it isn’t, we have to stop in Brunswick!” Nick snarled, pointing at him fiercely. “I need to make sure my friends are alright!”

            “Your FRIENDS, in all likelihood, are DEAD,” Coach barked, and Nick, in a moment of unbridled rage, rushed forward to swing at him. Not that he could have taken the older man, because even if Coach was older, he was burlier and more athletic. Ellis, knowing this, grabbed Nick by the arm and was able to hold him back.

            “WE DON’T KNOW THAT!” Nick shouted, and Ellis grimaced as he forced him away. So much for his peace treaty. “I’m NOT going to leave her behind because she could be okay! She could be like us!”

            “Who are you talking about?” Ellis asked, though the others didn’t hear him.

“The odds of that are slim!” Coach retorted, and Rochelle leaned forward, becoming more and more upset by the confrontation and the fact that she felt utterly useless.

            “I don’t know how you figure that! That idiot Keith is still alive, why not her?”

            “Keith isn’t an idiot,” Ellis began, but then decided to drop it when Nick threw his arm off and began storming down the highway. “Nick, where’re you goin’?!”

            “I’m going to Brunswick!”

            “What about Rochelle’s knee?”

            “I don’t give a fuck about Rochelle’s knee!”

            “Thanks Nick!” she shouted after him, angrily, and Ellis rolled his eyes as he turned to the other survivors.

            “Stay here,” he said.

            “Ellis, let him go.”

            “JUST WAIT FOR ME,” he demanded, and his intensity made Coach and Rochelle pause, but agree. Ellis rushed after Nick, and grabbed his arm again. “Stop.” Nick tried shoving him off again, and Ellis grabbed his arm more firmly. “I said STOP.” Nick did, and turned to him, irritated.

            “What do you want?” His voice was brimming with a venom that Ellis hadn’t heard before, and even though he shrank back a bit on the inside, on the outside he glowered.

            “So this is it? You’re just ditchin’ us to go to Brunswick?” Ellis asked, blatantly furious.

            “You don’t get it,” Nick muttered.

            “Can you explain it to me then?”

            “I can’t just leave Brunswick and I can’t leave the people. I promised I’d get down there,” Nick said, hoping that would be enough, as it had been enough up until this point. But now Ellis wasn’t going to accept it.

            “WHAT is in Brunswick?” he demanded. “What is so important that you are going to leave the rest of us, leave ME, and risk gettin’ your ass handed to you by those freaks out there?” Nick pinched the bridge of his nose, and swallowed down the sick feeling in his gut. He took in a deep breath, ran his had down the front of his face, and sighed.

            “Just trust me, Ellis,” he begged, voice teetering towards desperation.

            “….. Is it a guy-?”

            “No, a thousand times no… I need to get there and check on them.”

            “…. Cherie?”

            “…. Amongst others.”

Ellis crossed his arms, and furrowed his brow. Ever the diplomat, he held up his hands.

            “Okay, fine. But I’m comin’ with you.”

            “Ellis-.”

            “Fuck you, Nick, I’m comin’ with you,” he snapped. “Two days. That’s enough time for Rochelle’s leg to get walkable again. We go in and come out in two days. They wait in the safe house that’s up ahead-.”

            “Safe house-?”

            “Symbols were spray painted on the road,” Ellis explained, impatiently. “They wait there for us. We go into Brunswick, check on Cherie, get supplies, and then come back. If we aren’t back in two days, they get to go on without us. Does that sound fair to you?”

            Nick could tell that Ellis was angry about these shenanigans, especially since he still had no idea why they were happening in the first place. It was flattering that the kid was still sticking by him despite this, but he also knew that it was going to be a cold walk in and out of the city. Ellis was loyal, but he was also incredibly pissed off.

            “That sounds fine,” he answered. “…. Tell Rochelle I’m sorry when you get over there.”

            “You can tell her yourself when we get back,” Ellis snarled, and trotted back towards them, cursing himself all the while. For the constant bitching about how immature Ellis was, Nick wasn’t exactly the sage old soul he prided himself to be. Coach and Rochelle would no doubt want to know why Ellis was even putting up with this much less going with the con man, and he honestly didn’t know why. He just knew that his world would be better if Nick was in it, and therefore put up with his bullshit.

            Ellis explained his idea to Coach and Rochelle, and they both stared at him, blankly. “What? What’s wrong with it?”

            “….. Why are you risking so much just for him?” Coach asked. “He doesn’t give a damn about any of us.”

            “If you two give a damn about ME you will let me do this,” he tossed back, coolly. He knew he was being manipulative, but he didn’t care.

            “Ellis, for God’s sake, we DO care about you, which is why we don’t want you to go!” Rochelle exclaimed. “If you two go off alone, into a city, even if it is smaller like Brunswick, you will be surrounded by those things!”

            “She’s right, it’s too dangerous,” Coach agreed.

            “I can’t believe you two! You were more than willin’ to just let Nick go on his own!” Ellis cried in frustration. “Now either you don’t think it’s too dangerous for him, or you are perfectly fine with him going off and gettin’ killed! No, fuck both’ve those!”

            “We don’t want him to go, but we can’t stop him!” Rochelle shouted, and Coach shushed her. She snorted, but complied. “He wants to go, Ellis. He WANTS to leave us. So we should let him go if that’s what he wants.”

            “And I want to go with him. Let me do what I want,” he replied, firmly. Coach shook his head, knowing full well that once the kid got something in his mind, he was going to see it through. And that thing right now was Nick. “If Ro’s knee gets better sooner than two days, you don’t hafta wait for us if you don’t want. I’d really like you to, but I can’t make ya. Even so, I’m goin’ with him. He needs me.”

            “He doesn’t seem to think he does,” Rochelle said, quietly, hoping that this sweet kid wasn’t going to have his heart stomped on by the callous con man who was itching to rush down the road.

            “That just means he needs me all the more,” Ellis replied, matter of factly. “So are ya gonna wait for us?”

            Coach and Rochelle looked at each other, and then back at him. Even though they were reluctant to let him go, like Nick, they couldn’t make him stay. So they did what they had to do.

            “We’ll wait. Two days. That’s it,” Coach said, firmly.

            “Alright then,” Ellis responded, and shook his hand to make it official. “Good. Thanks….We’ll be back. See you soon.”

            “I really hope so, Ellis,” Coach replied, helping Rochelle up and lifting her into his arms. “I really, really hope so.” The mechanic nodded curtly, and turned back towards Nick, who was pacing back and forth like a caged animal.

            He hoped so too.

            “Come on, let’s go,” he stated, walking past Nick towards the off ramp.

            “Are they actually going to wait?” Nick asked, surprised.

            “Yep.”

            “Kid, I don’t know how you do it, but you certainly know how to charm-.”

            “Save it,” Ellis growled, and Nick shut his mouth. Well, this is going to be a looong walk, he thought to himself.


	8. Chapter 8

Nick had been right. The walk into Brunswick had been tense, and they hadn’t said anything to each other beyond the occasional ‘Hunter!’, or ‘behind you!’. It was strictly business, and it was just as well. If Nick had said anything biting or sarcastic Ellis would have probably slugged him.

            “Shit,” Nick muttered, when he realized that Brunswick wasn’t much better than Savannah. He didn’t know what he expected, but he had hoped it wouldn’t be another mass grave. He looked up at the street sign, and tried to remember just how to get to Daisy’s house. It had been a long time that he had come down to meet her. The last time they saw each other in person was the previous Christmas, and she had come out to California for a couple days of father daughter time. He remembered that they lived on Cherry Blossom Lane, but wasn’t exactly sure of how to get there.

            “Where’re we goin’?” Ellis asked, and Nick held up a hand. He’d Map Quested this, but they were still in the burnt out rental car in Savannah. If he recalled it was a few miles from the exit….

            “…. This way,” he guessed, and Ellis snorted, able to tell that Nick had no idea where he was going. “…. So…. Thanks for coming with me.”

            “Whatever.” Nick, now officially fed up, was about to shoot back with something vicious and devastating, but decided against it. He didn’t want any ‘friendly’ fire coming his way.

            Dark had fully set in by the time they realized they were just going in circles. Ellis groaned, and pointed at a large park. “We have passed this park three times!”

            “Well I can’t see in the dark, a flashlight only does so much!” Nick shouted back at him, shining the bulb in his face.

            “Where exactly does Cherie live in Brunswick?” Ellis asked, looking away from the light and reloading his gun while Nick tried to gather his bearings.

            “Cherry Blossom Lane.”  
            “Well shit, that’s near the golf course over by 17,” Ellis said. “We’ve gone too far South, we should have crossed over further up the parkway.”

            “…. How do you know that?” Nick asked, slowly turned towards him.

            “My Aunt used to live down here.”

            “ELLIS, why the FUCK didn’t you SAY ANYTHING?!” Nick exclaimed, fully exasperated.

            “YOU SAID YOU KNEW WHERE YOU WERE GOIN’!” Ellis yelled back at him, arms thrown out from his sides. “The fuck was I suppose to know you’re full of shit!?”

            “GODDAMMIT!” Nick shouted to the sky, and turned around. “We passed a sign for 17 ages ago!”

            “We’ll get there soon enough, we’ll run into 17 if we just continue down the parkway,” Ellis said.

            “If you haven’t noticed it’s almost pitch black out! We shouldn’t even be out here when it’s this dark!”

            “It’s not MY fault you were too proud to admit you were lost! If we can keep attention off us we could get there, dark or not,” Ellis theorized, though as soon as he did a cacophony of infected yells rose into the sky. “Oh really nice. Horde’s comin’. Just great.” Nick swore and reloaded his gun quickly, and they backed into each other, back to business and putting aside their irritations. As the infected came, though neither of them said so, there was a small part of each man who was imagining the other’s face on their attackers.

            Ellis was about to pull out his katana, when he laid eyes on a spray painted house symbol on the wall of a building. He hissed a ‘yes!’, and nudged Nick and pointed at it. “We should make for the safe house and hole up til mornin’!”

            “Assuming we can make it through the goddamn horde that sounds like a peachy keen idea!” Nick replied, and Ellis removed a homemade pipe bomb from his bag, lighting it up quickly with Nick’s lighter, which he’d snagged from pocket in one fell swoop. The zombies, distracted by the red light and high beeping, were momentarily distracted, and enough of them ran towards the explosive that the two men could crunch their way through the rest of them with their blades. Just follow the arrows, Ellis thought, rushing through, Nick close on his heels.

            Exhausted and pursued, the safe house was suddenly twelve yards away from them. And like Ellis had predicted, it was an actual house, something that both would have celebrated had they not been running for their lives. Instead they just made a break for it, lungs bursting and legs protesting. Nick was about to just throw himself towards the door, when he heard the tell tale ‘hurk!’-ing noise of a Boomer. He raised his gun, spinning around, trying to spot it, but was caught by surprise and emptied his barrel into some normal (as ridiculous as it sounded) infected.

            “Nick, get inside!” Ellis shouted, but Nick had a vendetta with the fat freak down the street, which emerged in full, swollen glory. Reaching for something, anything, Nick removed the bottle of Boomer Bile. He looked at it, and slowly grinned to himself.

            “Puke on this, you fat fuck!” he taunted, and whipped it through the air. It shattered on the fat creature’s belly, and the other zombies, suddenly tantalized, made a beeline for him, ready to tear him to shreds. Nick laughed in triumph, and sped into the safe house, slamming the door behind him and leaning against it. He turned to his side, exhausted, and saw Ellis just staring at him, mouth dropped.

            “Did you just throw a bottle of Boomer puke at a Boomer?” he asked, a smirk growing across his sweaty face. Nick nodded, and shrugged.

            “Seemed nice and ironic to me,” he replied.

            Ellis lingered a moment, and then began to laugh hysterically. Nick allowed the nonsensicality of it all to sink in, and he began to laugh too. Their adrenaline began to fall, they were protected in the reinforced house, and still in one piece. It was the best thing they could laugh about, and they were in near hysterics, leaning forward and holding their sides.

            Nick was the first to stop laughing, and chose to just watch Ellis guffaw and wipe tears from his cheeks.

            “Shit, Nick, that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in ages,” the younger man breathed, finally controlling his laughter enough to speak. “I can’t believe-.”

            He was stopped by Nick whipping in front of him and starting to kiss him fiercely. The con man didn’t know what had gotten into him, but he couldn’t restrain himself any longer. Maybe it was because they were finally alone, or maybe it was because of the rush they had been riding, but whatever it was, it had possessed him. His sudden actions caught Ellis off guard, but the mechanic recovered soon enough and eagerly returned the kisses. Nick slipped his coat off and began to unbutton his shirt, and Ellis yanked his tee shirt over his head and tossed it to the side, hat falling with the material. Both of them needed to feel skin against skin, skin that was still relatively smooth despite all the carnage they had endured. Nick had attempted to untie the coveralls, but when he began to cuss about the knot Ellis pushed his hands away and did it himself, leaving the older man to undo his own belt and get the grimy clothes off.

            “…. What exactly have we stumbled upon here?” he asked, suddenly realizing they were in what used to be a mudroom. Ellis looked up from his pants and danced out of them awkwardly.

            “Holy SHIT a washer and dryer!” he exclaimed, pointing at them happily. “This is the best room ever is what it is! I told you we’d find a safe house with a washer and dryer!” Nick shook his head, making a mental note to use as much fabric softener as possible, cleaning instructions be damned, and then grabbed Ellis again, pressing him against the wall and ravaging his lips, his face, his neck. The younger man was more than happy to continue, pulling Nick’s lips to his sharply, exploring the inside of his mouth with his tongue. Nick reciprocated the action, and decided that it was time to move this forward a bit if the kid was that eager. Not to say HE wasn’t eager. Ellis groaned, and his palms slapped down against the wallpaper as Nick moved lower down his chest, rough hands following his mouth.

            “Hang on,” Ellis gasped out, taking the wrists in his hands, and Nick looked up, eyebrows knitted.

            “What?”

            “Are you sure-?”

            “Hey, relax, kid, I’ve been doing this for years,” Nick muttered.

            “Not that,” Ellis said, exasperation shading his tone.

            “Well what then?”

            “It’s just…. Last time we did stuff like this you got real annoyin’ about it.”

            Nick sighed, and put a hand to his forehead. True, very true. How to reassure his companion in ten seconds or less? He used to be a master of it, but his usual tactic was steeped in false promises and selfish intent. This time he wanted to let Ellis know that he WASN’T going to be that prick again, wasn’t going to brush him off and that it wasn’t just because they were stuck together.

            “Just…. Just trust me, okay?” Nick asked, feebly.

            Ellis slowly nodded, and closed his eyes, tilting his head towards the ceiling, wanting to feel it all, to not be distracted with things around him, with the pale yellow light in the room, with the creatures outside. He just wanted to be here, with Nick, and for nothing else to matter.

            As he felt that familiar warmth envelope him, he hissed through his teeth, pressing his hands against the wall, curling his fingers. It took all his will power to not buck his hips forward, but Nick had them firmly in place, so they weren’t going anywhere. He let one hand fall to Nick’s head, entwining hair in his fingers, pacing him a small bit. The other hand reached out and gripped the doorframe that led further into the house as Nick moved faster, sucked harder. Ellis had been on the receiving end of a number of blow jobs, but this was the first time that the person giving to him had some actual skill, an art to it.

            Teasing tongue rolled around his cock, and he let out a breathless ‘God’ as the con man removed his mouth. Nick slowly stood back up, and pressed himself against the younger man, kissing him again.

            “Why’d you stop?” the mechanic asked between kisses, voice heavy, and Nick grinned as he began to bite his neck. Ellis, thinking that two could play that game and he’d pay him back at a later time, pulled on Nick’s boxer band.

            “Fine, don’t answer,” he grumbled, slowly turning around, and Nick held up his hands, realizing what Ellis was offering.

            “Hey, this isn’t like last time, I don’t have the proper equipment-.”

            “Oh my God are you worried about hurtin’ me?” Ellis asked over his shoulder, amazed.

            “…. Believe me, I’m just as surprised as you are,” Nick said, and Ellis shook his head in an amused way.

            “Look…. I’ve had worse.” And of course that was true. Both of them had. They’d been beaten up, emotionally drained, paralyzed by fear, so why should this be something to fret over? Nick nodded slowly, and stepped out of his own pair of boxers, positioning himself carefully before entering. “Besides, you’re takin’ it eventually.”

            “In your dreams,” he stated, gruffly. He spat on his fingers, trying to give some lubrication, and ran them across his stiff member. Okay, kid, you said you wanted it, he thought, and began to enter him. He winced a bit, and paused when Ellis gasped, but continued slowly when given the go ahead. As he moved he made sure to let Ellis keep up, unlike the last time, when he had drunkenly and selfishly taken it with a barely acceptable reach around to keep his lover somewhat mollified. This time he wanted Ellis to feel like he had some pleasure to gain too.

            He wrapped one arm around Ellis’ front and planted the other on his hips, moving at a steady tempo that made him climb higher and higher, despite the protests from his ribs. He rested his head against Ellis’ neck, practically panting now, getting off on not only the movements, but at how Ellis was softly moaning with each of them.

            “Ahh…. Christ, Nick,” Ellis groaned, which prompted the older man to drive in more forcefully and at longer intervals. “NICK.” He adored hearing his name in such a way, and moved his hand from the younger man’s hip and placed it on his dick, stroking it in time with his own thrusts, making sure to do a proper job this time.

            “How’s that?” he asked, breath ragged, and Ellis nodded.

            “Good, it’s g-good.”

            “Good,” he murmured, giving a long buck of his hips, digging in deep. “Say my name again.”

            “Nick.”

            Thrust. “Again.”

            “Nick!”

            Thrust. “AGAIN.”

            “NICK!” Ellis moaned in pleasure, releasing all over Nick’s hand. The older man felt his own muscles beginning to spasm, his head beginning to spin in anticipation. He could have stopped himself, could have tried to go just a little bit longer, but at the same time he craved the liberation.

            It soon became too much to even consider staving off, and as he came Nick cried out with a shudder, thrusting one more time as he did so. He exhaled heavily, and pressed the clean hand to his forehead, trying to catch his breath.

            Jesus Christ I must be getting old, this never used to wear me out so badly, he thought, as Ellis pulled away and turned around, grinning stupidly as he leaned against the wall.

            “Dang,” the kid said, sleepily.

            Nick smiled back at him, and gathered up the clothes that they’d strewn about the floor. Ellis watched him curiously as he removed their wallets and dumped all the clothing in the washer.

            “They are going to be so jealous they didn’t come to Brunswick,” he smiled, dousing three cups of detergent in the appliance, and Ellis laughed.

            Ellis found a shower and yelled ‘thank you Jesus!’, and Nick found some cigarettes and murmured ‘hello lovelies’. After they had taken two long showers and found clothes to wear in what used to be the master bedroom, they descended into the kitchen to see what was left over. It wasn’t much, but they boiled up some pasta and dumped canned tomatoes on top of it. Nick never thought he’d eat spaghetti again, but was pleasantly proven wrong with that meal.

            “Shit, everyone who stopped here took all the beer,” Ellis complained as Nick set out plates for the two of them. “That’s not cool.”

            “Man can life be unfair,” Nick said, dumping half the spaghetti on his plate and half on Ellis’. “For example, the only shirt that fit me was this stupid Hawaiian one.”

            “Heh, you should definitely keep that,” Ellis suggested, sitting at the table and digging into the pile of pasta. He could afford to be smug, as he found a beater and sweat pants that were working out JUST fine “….. I vote we just stay here forever. Clean clothes, lots of food, a shower-.”

            “Food runs out, just like ammo,” Nick said, taking a bite of pasta. “Trust me. I’d love to stay here but it isn’t feasible.” Ellis didn’t respond, and took a drink of water. “I can tell you one thing though: sleeping in an actual bed sounds great to me.”

            “Yeah, me too,” Ellis agreed. “… You’ll be happy to know that if we get up early enough we should make it back up 17 towards Cherry Blossom by nine thirty. Of course, that’s assumin’ we aren’t surrounded by zombies.”

            “I’m not worried about them,” Nick said.

            “Not even Smokers, huh?”

            “Har har. Fuckers,” Nick bitched, and Ellis shoveled more spaghetti in his mouth. “Better than getting humped in the face by a Jockey though.”

            “I hear THAT,” Ellis replied, mouth full of pasta. It was kind of sad to both of them that the extent of their conversation over the first nice meal they’d had in days was to talk about the hell that they had just escaped from. But what else was there to talk about now? “Hey Nick. You ever been to Italy before?”

            “Nope.” Of course Ellis could find other topics of conversation.

            “Me neither. I like Italian food though. Ya know, I think I miss that the most, food wise I mean,” Ellis stated. “Not that this spaghetti ain’t good, cuz it is. But I really miss goin’ to Olive Garden.”

            “Olive Garden, huh?”

            “Yup. Best breadsticks ever. What food do YOU miss most?”

            Nick pondered for a couple of moments. He didn’t like thinking about food when there was so little to be had outside of the canned variety, but the kid seemed really curious. “Sushi, probably.”

            Ellis made a face, shaking his head. “Yuck. Raw fish? How can you eat that?”

            “It’s pretty easy, actually, because it’s good,” Nick replied, defiantly. “Have you even had it?”

            “Yup, I have as a matter of fact and it was awful,” Ellis replied. “Got some at a gas station with Keith once.”

            “Okay, I THINK I know what your first mistake was,” Nick chuckled. What ran through this kid’s mind before he made decisions?

            “Well anyway, it was bad. I spit mine out right away, but Keith? He ate the whole tray. Got REAL sick too, took him to the hospital and they said that he had some kind of weird worm or somethin’. They had to cut it out of his stomach!”

            Nick was thankful that he was too hungry to be swayed from eating, even after that story. “I’ll get you good sushi someday. From California, not from some Seven Eleven in Savannah,” the older man stated. Though Ellis didn’t like the idea of sushi, he REALLY liked that Nick was planning to do stuff with him in the long term.

            So he just said “Okay, I’ll try anything twice. So long as it ain’t got any worms in it.”

           “Deal.”

            Nick was unloading the laundry when the terrible thought crossed his mind. Daisy’s necklace. He’d left it in his pants that had just gone through the wash.

            “DAMMIT!” he exclaimed, yanking the slacks from the dryer and shoving his hand in them. Still there, but in what condition? He didn’t know what a dryer would do to a silver chain, or an opal. He removed it, examining it carefully. Seemed okay, no obvious damage. Just hang in there one more night, Aces. Now to check to make sure his clothes hadn’t shrunk. He let out a second sigh of relief as he gathered them up, and closed the dryer with his foot.

            Ellis was already under the covers, ready for bed by the time Nick returned with the clothes. It was downright domestic, a creepy way to spend the evening considering the circumstances. Of course, this domesticity was different from the domesticity he’d been saddled with years ago. Instead of a nice house like this, he, Cherie, and Daisy shared a dank two bedroom apartment, and instead of looking forward to climbing into bed with his wife he was more looking for an excuse to make HER sleep on the couch that night. Despite how things were outside, this was the most peaceful night ritual Nick had ever had when it involved someone else. It was nice.

            “Might wanna put that chifforobe in front of that door,” Ellis suggested, voice muffled by pillow. “Just in case.” Nick nodded, and moved it with some effort, which was a good sign of it’s stability. He then crawled over the comforter and was soon under the covers with his lover. Not boyfriend. That didn’t seem like it really fit. Boyfriend was a societal constructed term, and as far as they knew society was gone. Whatever they were, Nick didn’t care. They just were and that was fine by him.

            His ribs were aching again. Combining the Smoker from the day before and the sex from a couple hours earlier, he needed something to ease the pain, so he opened the nightstand drawer in hopes of finding some aspirin.

            What he did find made him chuckle.

            “What?” Ellis asked, and Nick held up a bottle of KY Jelly, grinning. “Oh that’s fuckin’ typical.”

            “Sorry kid, guess we should have restrained ourselves a bit longer,” Nick replied, setting it down on the nightstand. “We’ll save it for later.”

            “Orrr, we could use it now,” Ellis suggested, biting his tongue mischievously. Ah, to be twenty three again, Nick mused, and snickered.

            “Are you seriously ready for another go after that down there?”

            “Aren’t you?”

            In theory he was. In physicality he wasn’t sure. God he hated getting old, even if he was only thirty five. But he put on a tough façade, and shrugged. “I’m game if you’re ga-OOF!” Ellis pounced him before he could say anything else, so he buried himself in the mechanic’s smell, kissing him eagerly, and they began all over again, acting out their bleak fantasy of normalcy. After all this time and all these years Nick was pretty certain he’d found someone different from the others. It was too bad it came after the world ended.

            After they had finished, Nick closed his eyes, shifting focus to the plan for the morning. Get up. Go to Cherry Blossom. Get Daisy. Haul ass back towards 95 and HOPEFULLY meet up with Coach and Rochelle by sundown. The morning after that at the latest.

             In his sleep Ellis scooted closer to him, and Nick smiled. At least he had this small taste of the good life with the kid. He made note to treasure it forever, because as far as he knew it sure as hell wasn’t going to happen again. Not anymore.


	9. Chapter 9

“It had better not rain,” Nick muttered as they began the hike up 17. The sky that morning was dark and foreboding, so dark that they had overslept, bodies believing it was still early. When Nick’s eyes opened he saw on the wall clock that it was already ten. Suffice to say they packed up some supplies, med kits, canned food (oh how Ellis didn’t want to leave the working fridge, even if most of the spoilable food had done just that), and more ammo. “If it rains I’m going to take it out on the infected.”

            “Better them than me,” Ellis said, brandishing his katana, wanting to save his ammo in case it got really risky. “Know what would be cool?”

            “What?”

            “If we didn’t see ANY zombies at all,” Ellis said, and chuckled at the futility.

            “It would also be cool if somehow California had remained completely untouched by this,” Nick said, participating in the what-ifs game.      “You’d like it there.”

            “California?” Ellis said, nose wrinkling a bit. “I don’t know. Everyone there just seems stuck up.”

            “Thanks a lot.”

            “Well not you, obviously,” Ellis stammered, but then could tell that Nick was teasing by the look on his face. “You nearly had me.”

            “You’re too gullible.”

            It wasn’t as quiet as they both would have liked, but it wasn’t overwhelming either. They were able to fend of the infected they encountered with their blades, and began to keep track in a morbid competition. Ellis declared that the mutated infected were worth extra points, so both were keeping a look out for Smokers, Spitters, Boomers, anything that would make the time go faster.

            Around eleven the encountered a problem. The road had been blocked by a pile up, not to mention other carnage. As much as they could try to climb over it, it seemed that the quickest route was going to be through the golf course. And the golf course seemed to be a prime herding area for the infected.

            “Ohhhhhhkay,” Nick groaned, knowing that Cherry Blossom Lane was just north of the golf course. “So that’s awesome.”

            “I know,” Ellis said, voice a bit disheartened. “Do you have anything to throw?” Nick looked in his side bag, and shook his head.

            “The Boomer Bile was the only thing,” he said. “Guess I shouldn’t have thrown it at the Boomer, huh?”

            “Whatever, it was damned funny,” Ellis replied, smiling at the memory. “I still have one pipe bomb… Should I throw it? It’ll alert ‘em that we’re here.”

            “It’ll thin them out too,” Nick growled, gripping his ax. “Do it.” Ellis nodded, lit the bomb, and heaved it over the fence. Like always, the zombies rushed the foreign object, and Nick and Ellis held their breath, seeing how many they could catch with it before it went off.

            When it finally detonated, the herd was thinner, no doubt. But it was still going to be difficult. Nick sighed, and shrugged. “I always hated golf.”

            “Never understood it m’self,” Ellis agreed, and they both charged forward.

            Nick slid down into the dirt of the neglected green, moving his ax blade up and hitting the uncoordinated lurchers in the legs as he did so. At least immobilize them, let them bleed out all over this country club’s grass. Probably were members there in the first place, what a fitting place to die. Ellis cheered as he yanked out his pistol to shoot a Boomer. “That’s an extra five points for me!”

            “You just wait!” Nick shouted back, decapitating a woman in a mink stole effortlessly. He shoved a short and balding man off of himself and brought the blade down right through his skull, feeling the splash of blood on his face. Gross. It had happened many times before but it was still gross.

            Ellis ducked as a Hunter leapt at him, and Nick was able to thwack it in the chest before it regained it’s senses. Nick smirked, smugly, and muttered “Five more for me, kid.” Ellis snorted, knowing he could have taken that thing, and Nick helped him up so they could continue the carnage.

            In some of these most gruesome times, both men would find themselves debating the morality of their actions. After all, these were sick human beings, unable to control themselves because of a devastating illness. To kill them like this, without second thought, and with a game added to it, was cynical, callous, and downright morbid. But as far as Nick and Ellis were concerned, the infected had started it.

            By the end of the golf course, their newly washed clothes were back to having that red stained tint to them. Oh well, they still felt cleaner than they had the entire week. If Nick had calculated right, it had been a week since The Infection overtook Savannah, a week and a day since he met Ellis in that bar, and it seemed like it had been months. Ellis let out a ‘hoo wee!’, and looked around. “Nick. I do believe that we might have committed a zombie genocide.” Nick nodded, looking at the dismemberment in their wake. He wasn’t sure how they did it, but they had done it. And they were on the other side of the golf course, so close to Cherry Blossom Lane he could taste it.

            “This way,” Ellis continued, and Nick followed him. Yes, this was looking more familiar now. He remembered that tree, that pond, that house. Though at the same time, it looked completely different now that it wasn’t bustling with life. Brunswick had never been a very cheerful town in Nick’s eyes, but now it looked downright bleak. His stomach began to clench, and he began to silently implore that if Daisy and Cherie weren’t still holed up in their house, they’d at least left notice of where they’d gone. Daisy knew he was coming, would she have remembered? Christ, when they were still married Cherie left emergency numbers for the neighbors who watched Daisy while she ran to the corner store. Habits like that couldn’t just disappear, could they? Especially since this was the largest emergency any of them had ever faced.

            “Do you remember her address?” he asked, and Nick thought for a moment and shook his head. No, it was on the directions he’d left in Savannah. He never thought he’d have to memorize it, but now wasn’t sure if he’d be able to recognize the house amongst the others in the neighborhood, the suburban-esque similarities aggravating him.

            “No, but…. It has a bunch of tacky garden gnome shit in the front yard,” Nick remembered, knowing that Hank was weird about his gnomes. Daisy didn’t really talk about it when he pressed, but then she never really talked about Hank in any case, so he never got the full story behind the stupid plaster abominations. “Just look for a lot of freaky little gnomes.”

            “Gnomes?” Ellis parroted, perplexed. “That’s just creepy… Why are you so sure that she’s still here, Nick? She could have evacuated a long time ago.”

            “Yeah, I know,” he said, scanning the lawns for gnomes. “But her new husband is a weird survivalist. Has a panic room in his basement or some shit, and when I DID get through she mentioned hunkering down there. If he’s as good as he claims he is they might still be there.” And he’d promised he was coming.

            “A panic room and gnomes, it sounds like a horror movie,” Ellis griped, shaking his head. “That just ain’t right.”

            “Don’t really know much about the guy, but yeah, that paints a weirdo picture, doesn’t it?” Nick asked, suddenly removing his Glock to shoot a shambling mail man. “And if they DID evacuate she may have left a note. She was really anal about these things.”

            “You know, it sounded like you really hated her the other night, so why is it we’re checking on her?” Ellis asked. “That never really added up to me.”

            Nick was about to twist his way through the question with some bullshit excuse, when there was, once again, a mournful crying up the street. He stilled Ellis, and looked across the yards. Six lawns over there was a woman lumbering, in nothing but her underwear and hands over her eyes. Nick could see that there was something wrong with her fingers, and he tilted his head.

            “Bet that’s worth at least twenty points, wouldn’t you think?” he asked, but Ellis looked more scared than intrigued. “What’s wrong?”

            “Coach said to stay away from those ones,” he said, voice nearly a whisper. “Maybe we can just go around her like we did back on 95.”

            “Yeah, maybe, but this one’s walking around, not just staying in one place,” Nick pointed out. “She could sneak up on us. We should just pop her right now.”

            “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

            “Ellis, she’s crying, how dangerous could she be if she can’t even pull it together as a zombie?” Nick asked, scoffing, and loaded his shotgun.

            “Nick,” Ellis said, grabbing his arm as his face drained of color. “Please don’t go over there.” The clutch was a desperate one, and it was the first time through this whole ordeal that Nick had actually seen Ellis genuinely scared. Nick pat him on the back, and shook his head.

            “I really think you’re over-reacting,” he said, trying to be reassuring. “… The problem is we’re going to have to pass her either way. I think it’s better to just dispose of her quickly.” Ellis reluctantly let go of Nick’s arm, and nodded. He was probably right. Even if they could sneak past her, they might have to come back multiple times, assuming Nick was just as confused about his surroundings today as he was the day before. There was no guarantee that she wouldn’t notice.

            “I’m gonna cover you though,” Ellis said, and smiled deprecatingly. “That should give me partial points.” It was an attempt at being brave for Nick, though he had a really terrible feeling about this. Nick nodded, and walked a few paces ahead, both men at a slow creep.

            She was stumbling about, wailing and seemingly oblivious to her surroundings, but when Nick raised his shotgun, she suddenly turned, face obscured by ratty hair, and began to growl. She had blood and green stains all over her body and undergarments, and her nails had mutated into long black claws. Through her straw like blonde locks he could see glowing red eyes, honest to God glowing red eyes. Nick didn’t realize he was shaking until he tried to aim, and she began to all out bellow at him. Oh shit, maybe Coach was right about these things, he thought, just as she let out a hair-raising scream and lunged at him.

            She knocked him back to the ground, and she ripped her long claws across his chest. He yelled out, momentarily overcome by the sharp pain, and vaguely hearing Ellis shout out and shoot at her. The con man shoved the muzzle of his gun under her chin, pushing it into her enough that she was startled back. As soon as she had stopped thumping on his chest, he pulled the trigger. The force of the shot sent her flying backwards, back half of her head exploding off behind her, and she collapsed on the grass. Nick stood up quickly, and Ellis was  already to him, panic-stricken. Nick put a shaky hand to his chest, and when he pulled it away it was covered in warm, sticky blood.

            “Nick-!”

            “That SUCKED,” Nick exclaimed, unbuttoning the tatters of his shirt. “Jesus CHRIST she went all Freddy Krueger on me!”

            “No shit!” Ellis exclaimed. “Christ, these gashes-.”

            “Believe me, it could have been worse,” Nick muttered, looking down at his chest. “These are pretty shallow. Stitches would be ideal, but THAT isn’t gonna happen. That BITCH!”

            “Here, sit down, let me help,” Ellis said, reaching into his bag to pull out a med kid as he eased Nick to the ground. “Hopefully bandages will do.”

            “They’ll have to,” Nick replied, as Ellis poured iodine on his chest. “EASY-!”

            “Iodine doesn’t work that way,” Ellis snapped, wiping the blood away with some gauze. He began to lay large bandages on his upper body.  “It isn’t bleeding too bad, far as I’m concerned you were lucky.”

            “I don’t feel lucky.”

           “Hell, that don’t matter, cuz you ARE lucky,” Ellis stated, taping up his chest carefully. “Seein’ those claws? She coulda gut you like a fish….”

            “Well, she didn’t,” Nick replied, not wishing to dwell on that thought for too long, and assisted in his dressings. Ellis finished bandaging him up, and then nodded firmly.

            “These should hold up awhile…. How’re you feelin’?” Nick touched the dressings lightly, but nodded, buttoning up his shirt again as he stood up with the hick.

            “Besides the pain? I’m okay,” he breathed, putting a hand on Ellis’ shoulder to reassure him. Ellis nodded, sighed in relief, and then slugged him on the arm. Hard. “OW! What the FUCK-?”

            “I told you not to mess with her!” Ellis shouted, angrily, and shoved him. Nick squawked, and then shoved back.

            “Hey! How was I supposed to know she was going to go all PMS rage on me?!”

            “Coach told us not to mess with them! Why can’t you just listen to someone else for once?!” Ellis yelled. Nick exhaled, shrugged slowly, and reached a hand out to the younger man, who was going to shake it off, but instead let him touch his shoulder again. “Jesus Christ, Nick.”

            “Hey, you’ve done some really stupid shit too,” Nick pointed out. “Remember when you literally JUMPED a Jockey cuz you thought ‘it’d be funny to ride it’? THAT wasn’t fun to watch either you know.”

            “…. Just… Just don’t do that again, ‘kay?” Ellis asked, and after letting his annoyance subside Nick calmly smiled at him, squeezing his shoulder briefly. He was just scared. He probably would have reacted the same way if the roles were reversed. After all, after the Jockey tossed Ellis off it’s back and had been disposed of, Nick had wanted to strangle the kid he was so irked. So it was square. He turned back to the dead bitch on the ground, smugly.

            “As for YOU,” he said, walking towards her and squatting down to address her, as if she could hear him, “let that be a lesson about over-reacting. You remind me of my….”

            He trailed off, the words dying on his lips, and blinked a couple of times. His mind wasn’t letting him process what he was seeing before him, and his self-righteous smirk transformed into a numb frown.

            God how that sapphire necklace was familiar.

            “No way,” he muttered, taking the Witch’s face in his hands, brushing the rough hair from her face. “Oh my GOD!”

            Cherie.

            “What is it?” Ellis asked, and Nick leapt up, hand to his mouth as he began to throw up. “NICK!”

            The con man leaned over, vomiting up their breakfast of toast and jam, and fell to his knees, nausea overtaking him. He had spent so many years despising Cherie, probably as much as she despised him, but for their tumultuous relationship to end like this was twisted and horrible, even for someone as jaded as he was. He put a hand to his forehead, processing what he had just done.

            “That’s Cherie,” he gurgled, pointing at the body as he wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and Ellis’ eyes widened. “I just shot my ex-wife through her freakin’ skull.”

            “Jesus Christ,” Ellis said, looking back at her, and then back to Nick. “Are you sure-?”

            “Yep. That’s her necklace, that’s her face. It’s her.” He observed his surroundings, and noticed that there were broken lawn gnomes scattered across the lawn. This had been their house the entire time. “This is their hou-.”

            And then he remembered Daisy.

            He looked up, panic rising in his chest. “DAISY!”

            Ellis was about to ask who that was, but Nick was up and running into the home. The younger man could do nothing but follow.

            Nick tore through the house, shouting her name over, and over. Opening the door to each room, finding nothing. No zombies, no Daisy, nothing. The upstairs looked pristine, as if they just weren’t home, or out of town, and Daisy’s room looked like she had just left her clothes strewn about the floor, like she would come back at any moment. And yet he knew that she hadn’t been here just now, and she wasn’t going to leap out of the closet like it was some sick joke on her part. He swallowed the growing lump in his throat, and put a hand to his head, trying to think, trying not to hyperventilate. Where would a motherfucking pathetic panic room be?

            He ran down the steps into the underground den, and saw a large metal door. That had to have been it, as it certainly didn’t tie the room together in any way, and he started pounding on the entrance. “DAISY! ARE YOU IN THERE?!” He slammed against the door, kicked it, clobbered it until his knuckles were bleeding, and Ellis found him just as he had forced his ax between the metal and the frame.

            “Nick?” he asked, meekly, beyond confused and beyond scared. It was as if the older man had completely snapped.

            Nick managed to wedge the door open, though it got stuck on the track. He leaned into the room as best he could, but was dismayed to find that Daisy was not inside. The dead body of Hank was, however, his brains and facial bones smeared against the wall. From his skin tone and wounds across his arms, it was clear that he had been infected before his ultimate demise.

            “Damn,” Ellis murmured, and Nick swore angrily and shoved past him and rushed back up the steps. Ellis exhaled, wondering just when the older man was going to STOP, and followed.

            Nick’s legs stopped working once he exited the house, and he stumbled to his knees, shouting her name until his face turned red. He was suddenly unable to breathe, unable to bring anything into his lungs. Ellis paused in the doorway to the house a moment, but dashed over when he saw just how far gone Nick was. He grabbed his shoulders, letting himself fall on his knees next to him.

            “Nick, what is going on!?” Ellis exclaimed, as Nick clasped his hands together and began to cry. Having never seen Nick cry once in this entire situation, believing that it was impossible for the older man to do so, Ellis decided this was the lowest the older man could get. He just knew it. “Nick please talk to me, tell me what’s going on-!”

            “My daughter!” Nick wept, and Ellis shut right up, floored by the confession. Since when did Nick have a DAUGHTER? “I can’t find Daisy! She’s gone!” Ellis, being sent into a state of mild emotional shock, swallowed, and put his arms around Nick’s shoulders just as Nick let out an anguished wail, finally collapsing into Ellis’ embrace. The younger man bit his lip, closing his eyes and rocking Nick slowly, convinced that it was going to end here. Nick had lost it, and Ellis wasn’t going to leave him. Certainly not. He pressed his brow on the top if the con man’s head, trying to give comforting words but knowing nothing would give him comfort now.

            He looked up, and saw the silhouettes in the distance, interests piqued by the commotion, and he narrowed his eyes at them, still holding his lover close. He knew that they needed to move. It was NOT going to end here, and it was NOT going to end like this. He set a frown on his mouth, and turned to Nick, forcing the older man to look at him.

            “Listen to me,” he said, lowly, brushing the tears from Nick’s face. “We need to move.” Nick began to shake his head and Ellis stopped him from moving his face. “No, listen. We NEED to MOVE. Get up and get ready to run. Take what you’re feelin’ now and put it towards killing these sonsofbitches. Put it ALL towards them. Got it?”

            Nick swallowed, trying not to hyperventilate, and nodded weakly.

            “Alright then,” Ellis said, and forced him to his feet. “Back through the golf course. There was a safe house down by the marsh. We stop there, understand me?” Nick nodded again, though he looked like he was barely functional. “Good. GO.”

            They sprinted back across the green, not meeting as many infected this time around, as their main threat was behind them. Ellis was clearing the way, not sure that Nick would be able to hold his own in such a state, and felt his own bit of rage building up, a rage he hadn’t felt since he killed the zombies on his porch after killing his mother.  These infected were now bearing the brunt of that anger again, and Ellis yelled with each sleek cut, with each blow to the face, with each splatter of blood across his poor tee shirt. He was terribly sick of these things hurting and killing the people he cared most about.

            He grabbed Nick by the sleeve and pulled him into the safe house, slamming the door behind them and latching it with the giant iron pole. He rested his arms against the cold metal, and gulped in as much breath as he could.  Gagging from the discomfort of sprinting, he turned around, sinking to the floor. Nick had already curled up in a corner, devastation turning to shock, a catatonia that was readable across his face and body language. Ellis closed his eyes, and covered them with his hands, stomach roiling.

             So this is what rock bottom feels like, he thought hazily, before turning over, quickly opening the door to the safe room, and vomiting as well.


	10. Chapter 10

Nick hadn’t said anything by the time the sun had set. He was still sitting in the corner of the safe house, knees pulled up to his chest. Ellis had hoped that maybe the catatonia would pass on it’s own, but time was getting desperate now. They needed to set out the next morning, as soon as possible, if they wanted to get back to Coach and Rochelle before they were assumed dead. And being in the complete opposite spot of where they needed to be, it was going to be a difficult day, especially if Nick was going to be in this state of shock.

            The safe room this time was small. It had a bottom area and a small catwalk up top. Ellis wasn’t sure if it was storage space or what, but it was a far cry from the house the night before. The only light was a battery-powered lantern that glowed weakly between the two of them.

            Ellis snatched up a can of corn from one of the shelves, and set it down in front of Nick. “You gotta eat somethin’.”

            “I’m really not hungry.” Ah. Progress. At least he was talking. Earlier he wouldn’t even blink to anything Ellis asked.

            “You need to eat, we have a long walk in front of us,” he replied, quietly. Nick snorted, and brushed another tear from his eye, holding them in now. Back to being infuriatingly self controlled, also a good sign. Sort of. “We have to get back to Coach and Rochelle by tomorrow night at sundown. Or they leave without us.”

            “I don’t care.”

            “You may not, but I do,” Ellis replied, gentle but adamant. Nick shook his head, refusing to look at the younger man. “…. Nick. You don’t know that she’s dead-.”

            “Oh right. RIGHT. Don’t patronize me.”

            “I ain’t patronizin’ you,” Ellis insisted, though he had to admit it looked pretty grim. “Keith was alive, remember? Look, she wasn’t in the house, she wasn’t one of the zombies we killed, she wasn’t anywhere around there.”

            “That means shit. She could have wandered off with one of those huge hordes of them-.”

            “Don’t think like that.”

            “I’m thinking realistically!” Nick snarled, and Ellis tried to remain calm, as Nick was very understandably upset. VERY understandably upset. Eggshells were a must. “How could she survive this? She’s all alone. WE’RE barely making it with FOUR of us.”

            “You just can’t be sure. Until you have seen her body, you don’t know.” Nick snorted, and reached for a cigarette.

            “Your eternal optimism is really pissing me off.”

            “Sorry to hear that.”

            “I told her to wait for me there, so she would have waited.”

            “Not if her Mom and stepdad turned into zombies she wouldn’t have. And someone had to’ve killed her stepdad, right? The infected aren’t exactly known for their shooting skills.”

            Nick lit up the cig, and rested his head against the wall. He didn’t want to give up so easily. He wanted to believe that she was alive, that she had somehow made it to an EC somewhere, anywhere. But how could he think that she had been lucky enough to survive this when so many hadn’t? The same question he’d thought many times this journey repeated in his head: what were the odds? As a gambler, he knew everything about odds, and how to manipulate his own. You could count cards, you could bluff really well and read others tells, you could wait for someone to leave a slot machine in a huff and MAYBE it would finally pay out just for you. But there was no way to control the odds this time, and to feel so utterly powerless was eating away at him.

            “Ellis…… Even if she IS alive…. How would I find her?” he asked, softly. “Who knows where she went? Or if she found an EC? Or if she did if she’s already been evacuated? For that matter, who knows what happens WHEN the military evacuates you?”

            “You have to stop askin’ those questions,” Ellis replied, finally biting into his can of corn. “At every single safe house we stop in, we check the walls. See if she’s left you a message, left anyone a message. Track her movements that way. Hell, I left messages because everyone was doin’ it, maybe she thinks like I do.”

            Nick didn’t answer, and drew a hand across his eyes. They were stinging like mad, his cheeks too, and he wasn’t sure what to say to that. Maybe she did. In any case he didn’t want to get his hopes up, the way he’d gotten them up as they traveled to Brunswick in the first place.

            He’d never been one who believed in God. He had gone to mass to appease his parents until he was fifteen, and then he was done. It was the first incident in a line of disappointments that separated him from his family, and he’d always suspected that his sudden vocal Atheism had been the nail in the coffin. Now he wished he had kept with his faith when he was younger, because now it was just too far gone for him to find any solace in it.

            Ellis gave up on Nick eating anything, and put the untouched can of corn in his bag for later. Unsure of what to say now, he merely stood up and looked through the barred windows. It was dark, but he could see shuffling infected in the distance, disinterested in them at this point.

            “…. Look, I’m tired Ellis. I think I’m just going to go to bed.

            “Kay… Do you want me to be next to you, or-?”

            “No,” Nick said abruptly. “…. Not tonight. I just kinda want to be alone. I can take the catwalk.”

            “Kay.” Nick nodded slowly, and trudged up the steps. Ellis raised a hand, in a sad wave. “Night.” Nick didn’t answer, and Ellis lay down next to the lantern, switching it off. Nick, his Nick, was gone, and it was unclear if he was ever going to come back. The Infection had finally broken him, and Ellis had never felt more alone in this whole thing. He also had no idea what to do. He’d never had a friend experience such a trauma, such a loss, and he wasn’t sure what to say or how to treat him, or ‘them’, anymore. As selfish as it was, and he recognized it, he began to quietly cry because as far as he was concerned, Nick would be forever consumed with his grief and they would never repair. They had one perfect night, and while given the circumstances it was lucky that were given that one, Ellis wanted more. He deserved more. So he wept alone and in silence.

            Nick stared at the wall, unable to feel anything. All he could think was that he had failed her yet again, after years of failing her. Even when it mattered most he broke his promise, and even though he made it to Brunswick, he wasn’t able to come to her rescue. It was awful feeling this powerless, and he curled his face into his wrists, swallowing the anguish and self hatred. Gripping the necklace in his hand, Nick fell into a tormented sleep, with no dreams or peace to be found.

___________________

            “I think it’s them!” Rochelle exclaimed, using a sniper scope to peek through the bars of the safe room.

            “Is there anyone with them?” Coach asked, rushing to the door as well, and Rochelle shook her head, slowly. “Rochelle?”

            “No,” she stated, flatly. “I guess you were right, Coach. It’s just Nick and Ellis.”

            Her knee, while not perfect, had healed enough that she could walk on it, even run if it was necessary, so long as it was wrapped tightly. She had been praying that Ellis and Nick would return, and had become more and more nervous as the second day had continued on with no sign of them. Coach had said that if they hadn’t arrived by the next morning, they were leaving, assuming them dead. So when she was keeping watch and saw the telltale clothing, her heart soared. It was amazing to her that she was so attached to these three people she had just met, but they were her only family now. She made sure that there were no infected outside, and cupped her hands around her mouth and called out to them “Hey guys! We’re in here!”

            She walked out of the safe house, waving at them. Neither of them sped up, or even acknowledged her. She was going to make some joke about her knee, but then saw their faces. She stopped in her tracks, and could tell that something was terribly wrong. Nick looked like hell, and Ellis just looked drained.

            “Guys?” she asked, and Nick walked past her towards the safe house. “Nick?” Coach left the safe house to greet them too, and made a face when Nick just walked past him and inside. Rochelle turned to Ellis, a quizzical expression on her face. “…. What happened, Ellis?”

            Ellis put a hand to his mouth, and took in a deep breath, and Coach was soon right next to them. “Guys….. Um…. So Nick didn’t tell the whole truth to us.”

            “Oh great, what did he -?” Rochelle began, incredulously, but Ellis held up his hands and shushed her.

            “Hold on, let me finish, Ro,” he said, tightly. “… The friends we went to find in Brunswick?.... He was actually looking for his daughter.”

            Rochelle’s hand flew to her mouth, a muffled ‘Oh my God’ leaving her lips, and Coach huffed like he had the air knocked out of him.

            “He killed one of those crying girl zombie things, and it turned out to be his ex wife,” Ellis continued, hands in his pockets. “We searched the house and found the step dad, dead, and infected… but couldn’t find Daisy. She’s…. she’s gone.”

            “Sweet Jesus,” Coach murmured, turning over his shoulder towards the safe house. “How is he…? I mean, have you…. What-?”

            “He ain’t good,” Ellis replied. “… Now we didn’t find Daisy, but we didn’t find her body either. And SOMEONE had to have shot her stepdad.”

            “Ellis, do you know the odds-?” Coach began, and Ellis shook his head violently.

            “The odds, the odds, I am so SICK of hearing about the odds of things!” he snapped. “The odds ain’t good, I get that! I ain’t stupid! But he and I found each other, despite the odds, and we can find Daisy too!”

            Rochelle and Coach exchanged glances, and she pat the larger man on the shoulder. “Coach…. Could you leave us alone for a few moments?”

            “I don’t think I should be going into the safe house right about-.”

            “Then go scavenge the area for ammo and supplies,” she said, sternly, and Coach grumbled a bit. “Don’t go too far-.”

            “Yeah yeah yeah,” he said, walking off and searching the brush.

            Rochelle turned back to Ellis, and squeezed his arm. “Sweetie… I know that you care about Nick, but why are you…?” How to phrase this gently? “… Why are you getting your hopes up over something that is so unlikely?” Ellis removed his hat and twisted it in his hands, and sat down on a small log, Rochelle sitting next to him. He wrinkled his nose, and massaged his temples.

            “This has all but killed him, Ro,” he said, softly. “If… If Daisy is alive, and we find her…. I might get him back, y’know? Two nights ago, I was actually happy when it was just him, and me. Yeah, we were in danger, and it was still the end of the world, but I was actually HAPPY, and I’m pretty sure he was happy too. Now it seems like neither of us will be happy ever again. But if we find Daisy…. I know it’s selfish, so don’t tell me it is, I know it’s selfish to hope she’s okay so he’ll smile at me again, but I don’t care. I just want him to smile again.”

            Rochelle wrapped her arm around his shoulders, and he rested his head on hers. She exhaled slowly, and rubbed his arm. “You two…. I’ve been watching you two the entire time we’ve all been together, and even though it hasn’t been long, I could tell that you were the world to each other. Even when he was snapping at you, or you were egging him on, I knew there was something really, well, great, between you guys. It helps that you two have known each other a long time-.”

            “No we haven’t,” Ellis muttered. “I lied to you that night at the bakery. He picked me up in a bar last Tuesday.”

            “….Well you had me fooled,” she said, and he smiled, though it was cautious.

            “I don’t know, Ro,” he said, scratching his head. “…. I think I really messed up.”

            “Why?” she asked.

            “…. I let myself fall into it WAY too quickly,” he admitted, futzing with his hands. “I forgot that we’re pretty much surrounded by death and destruction, and just-.“

            “Fell for him,” she finished, smiling knowingly.

            “Yep,” he nodded. “Pretty dumb. Now’s not the time to do that. There are freakin’ zombies all around us, for God’s sake!” He snorted, and shifted his hat on his head. “It’s so bad now…. Now I know we never shoulda let this happen between us. Especially when it may not even be real-.”

            “Real?” she asked.

            “Yeah, real,” he replied, throat constricting slightly. “It could just be because no one’s left, and we’re just…. Settlin’ on each other-.”

            “Bull,” she replied, sternly, so sternly that he looked at her sharply. “Yeah, Ellis, things are shit right now. Worse than shit, even. But you, and Nick… you guys found something despite of all the shit. You may have found it quicker than most, but you found it and it’s real. Just looking at you two I can tell it’s real, and I wish I’d connected to someone like that. And that isn’t going to go away because his daughter is gone, Sweetie. You need to be there for him now, we all do. And maybe he’ll smile at you again someday.”

            Ellis put his hat back on, and took her hand. “Not sure any of us have the time to wait for that.” He stood up, and walked back towards the safe house, leaving Rochelle on the log. She put her head in her hands, and just sat, needing to be alone for awhile.

            Nick was smoking in the corner of the safe house when Ellis walked in. The younger man paused in the doorway, and then went and sat down next to him. “… Can I get me one of those?” Nick glanced over at him, and nodded, lighting another one up and handing it to him. “Thanks.”

            “Since when do you smoke?” Nick asked, cigarette hanging off his lip.

            “I smoke,” Ellis insisted, taking a drag. He held in a cough, and blew the burn out from his lungs. “Yeah. Good stuff.” Nick cracked a small smirk, and shook his head. “Check the walls?”

            “Yep.”

            “…. Take it there was nothin’ then.”

            “Nope.”

            “….Just gotta keep lookin’.”

            “Sure…..”

            “Have you eaten anything?”

            “I will at dinner.” Ellis nodded, and reached into his bag. He removed the marker, and set it on the floor. Nick glanced down at it, but then returned to simply staring ahead.

            “I told Coach and Ro what’s goin’ on,” Ellis continued, pulling up a knee to his chest as he loaded his gun. “May not’ve been my place, sorry if it wasn’t, but I did. Have you changed your bandages yet?”

            Nick normally wouldn’t have appreciated being treated like a child, but that was the furthest thing from his mind right now. “Nope.” Ellis didn’t say anything in judgment. He simply put out the cigarette and reached for a med pack, beginning to unbutton the older man’s shirt. The gauze was dark with blood, but had held up. Ellis cleaned off his hands with sanitary wipes, and removed the dressings as gently as possible. Nick barely flinched as the gashes were exposed, despite the scabs leaving with the bandages, and Ellis opened the bottle of iodine, carefully cleaning them once again. No Keith stories to be had this time.

            “Tell me if it hurts, kay?” He didn’t expect an answer, so he just kept cleaning and patching. “They’re gettin’ better. If we keep cleaning them like this you’ll be fixed in no time.” He taped up one last patch of gauze, and buttoned up the shirt once more. “How do they feel?”

            “Fine,” Nick replied.

            “Good, good... Nick, I really don’t know what to say or do,” Ellis blurted out, no longer able to stand keeping it inside. “I’m afraid I’ll say somethin’ stupid, since I kinda do that a lot, and I don’t want to upset you any more than you already are… I just want you to know that…. Well, no matter what, I’ll still be here for you if you want me to be….. I’m gonna go make sure that Ro and Coach are doin’ okay out there. Call if you need anything.” He stood up, and carried the gun out of room. Nick didn’t want him to go, necessarily, but didn’t have the drive to make him stay.

            He glanced down at the marker, and snorted. No point. But he clasped it in his hand, and turned around, facing the wall. There was a little room for him to write, but he’d have to keep it short, even though he felt he could write a novel of apologies to her.

 

_Daisy,_

_I’m sorry for every promise I’ve broken, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you. I’m sorry I wasn’t the father you needed, and I’m sorry that I’ve failed. I’m heading towards Jacksonville. If by some miracle you see this, please, go that way too._

_Dad_

 

            He tossed the marker at his bag, and extinguished his long dead cigarette on the concrete floor. Just gotta keep going. Gotta get to Jacksonville.

He made a decision at that moment. Not only was he going to get to Jacksonville, he was going to take out hundreds of infected in his wake. Preferably in the bloodiest and most painful ways possible.

            Ellis shot at a Jockey, using target practice as a way to vent his emotions. It wasn’t working as well as he had hoped. “Take that you horny bastard.”

            “Nice shot,” Coach said, suddenly next to him.

            “Thanks,” Ellis replied, and let his gun fall to his side. “Figure that even though we got a safe room I may as well get any freaks that’re walkin’ around out here.”

            “Makes sense to me,” Coach replied. “How’s Nick?”

            “Piss poor,” the mechanic replied, not missing a beat. “But I can handle takin’ care of him, you guys don’t hafta worry about that.”

            “Naw, we all take care of each other,” Coach replied “Ro’s keepin’ an eye on him for now while she gets dinner ready, don’t feel like it’s all your responsibility… Did you have kids, Ellis?”

            Ellis chuckled a bit. Kids, yeah right. At twenty three the only time he thought about kids was when his Mom had nagged him about getting married and making her a grandmother. Why she was in such a hurry was beyond him. As far as he’d been concerned, he shouldn’t have had to worry about finding a nice girl at 23, especially since he wasn’t looking at girls. Not that he’d had the heart to tell her that. So he let her think that grandkids were in the near future, and had planned to tell her the truth when he’d found someone special, and hope that she wouldn’t freak out. Even though he was nervous to tell her, somehow he knew that she would have been okay with it. But now he’d never know for certain.

            “No sir. No kids. Haven’t even had a girlfriend since high school, and we never did anything that would lead to kids,” he replied, scanning the grounds. “You?”

            “No,” he replied, also keeping an eye out. “Maria and I couldn’t have them. She had to have an emergency hysterectomy at nineteen, before we met. It tore us up for awhile, but we accepted that kids weren’t in the plan God had for us. These days I’m actually glad we never did have kids… And Nick is the perfect example of why.”

            Ellis nodded, dazed. He wasn’t sure where The Infection would have fit into God’s plan, but didn’t want to say it to Coach. So instead he settled with “I guess so.”

            “Guys, you should come inside,” Rochelle said, head poking out from the door. “I have dinner ready and we should get some sleep if we’re gonna get on the road early tomorrow.”

            “Sounds good, Ro, we’ll be right in,” Coach called back, and pat Ellis on the back. “Like I said, we’ll all keep an eye on him. But we also have to keep in mind that this is the kind of grief that’ll drive a man crazy. So we have to watch out for that too.”

            “…. Yeah,” Ellis said, scratching his head. “I’ll keep an eye out for that.”

            “Alright…. Come on, let’s go eat.”

            Had they thought outside the box a bit, perhaps they would have looked on the outside walls for more messages. Because had they done that, they might have seen something written in bright blue marker.

 

_Daisy was here, 10/10. Heading to Jacksonville. Zombie head count: ten. RIP Mom, and Dad._


	11. Chapter 11

“You have GOT to be FUCKING KIDDING ME!” Rochelle screamed, throwing a can of peas at the EC. It smacked the glass of the hospital doors, leaving a spiderweb like crack, and the other’s all visibly slumped their shoulders. Jacksonville was just like Savannah: a wasteland. The evacuation center had caution tape spread all across it, and it looked at if people hadn’t entered in days. They were starting to see a pattern here: empty promises in every city they entered.

            “I can’t believe this,” Coach said, voice dejected. “Guys…. I’m stumped. We could go down to Miami, but it looks like every single city in the South has fallen.”

            “Shee-yat,” Ellis murmured, brushing sweat from his hairline. “This is bad.”

            “No kidding,” Rochelle muttered, shaking her head. “So…. Now what?”

            “….. I don’t know,” Coach said, shoulders slumping. “I really don’t know.” Ellis looked over at Nick, who was lighting up another cigarette as he shot at a long distanced Hunter with his Glock.

            “I guess we have to find another safe house and map out a plan,” Rochelle said, rubbing her eyes. “Dammit…”

            “We can’t lose any more time, we have to keep going,” Coach insisted.

            “Where are we going, exactly?” she demanded. “We have all the time in the world, Coach, because there’s nothing left!”

            “I’d expect that from Nick over there, but not you, Rochelle!” Coach chided. “I guess someone had to replace his negative attitude since he went off the deep end.”

            “He hasn’t-!” Ellis began, but Rochelle was too quick for him.

            “It isn’t negativity, it’s facing the facts!” Rochelle snarled back. “We are alone! No one is coming to save us! We are going to die out here with these things tearing us apart, or WORSE we’re going to become like them!”

            “We would have already turned into them if it was gonna happen,” Ellis replied, casing the perimeter. “Let’s make a decision quick, y’all. Can’t stay in one place forever, not exposed like this with the sun about to set.”

            “…. Okay, we’ll head into the EC and see if there’s any hint of where to go,” Coach offered. “It’s a hospital, they have to have medical supplies in there somewhere.” Rochelle was outwardly perturbed, but having no other ideas to give just nodded curtly, and followed him towards the door.

            “Hey Nick!” Ellis called, and Nick looked up from hacking a zombie with his ax. “We’re goin’ in!”

            “Okay,” Nick called, and trotted over. “So. I take it Jacksonville is another lost cause?”

            “Appears to be,” Ellis said, as they walked a few paces behind Coach and Rochelle. “But maybe the military will have said where to go if not here.”

            “Not likely,” Nick groused. “You guys go on inside, I’ll watch the door.”

            “That’s crazy, Nick, we don’t know how many are out there, in such a big city,” Ellis said, adamantly. “They could come out of nowhere by the hundreds.”

            “Not a big deal,” Nick said, loading his gun.

            “Forget it, you’re comin’ inside,” Ellis stated, voice stern, and Nick shrugged, following. That devastation had turned to numbness, and now the numbness was replaced by reckless anger. Nick had been killing the most infected on the trip down, it wasn’t even a contest anymore. Even if the things were off to the side of the road, minding their own business, Nick was on them with his ax. It was always with a glint in his eye and an angry yell on his lips, to the point where it was more animal than human. They had spent most of the previous day travelling, and when they settled into their campsite (no safe house that night) Nick took the entire first half of the watch, giving his ax a work out. When he entered the encampment for bed he had blood all over his face, and didn’t bother to clean it off until Ellis forced him to do so in a small stream. Even then Ellis had to do all the work.

            Rochelle had tried to convince Ellis that he was working through the steps of grief, and while Ellis believed it and understood it, he sure as hell didn’t have to like it. He hated to think that Coach was right about the grieving father going crazy.

            “I’ll come inside, but I got dibs on any Smokers,” Nick continued. “I have a score to even out with those carpet munchers.”

            At least he’d started talking again. Ellis took any positive signs he could. He’d also let Ellis sleep next to him the previous evening, after two nights of distance. Another positive sign, even if the way Nick clung to him was much more possessive than previously, as if he were afraid that the younger man was going to be snatched away from him.

            “Look out! Boomer!” Coach yelled, shooting at the fat abomination that was waddling down the hallway. As it exploded in a shower of blood and bile, Rochelle groaned.  To think she’d let herself believe that this was going to come to an end any time soon. “Keep an eye out for supplies and any information you can find. And I’m NOT talking about signs set up by those idiots at CEDA.”

            “’Wash your hands’ my left foot,” Rochelle muttered, and spun around just in time to shoot an infected in the chest. “Yeah, screw you buddy, I’m NOT in the mood for this.”

            “Pills over here!” Ellis called, tossing a bottle to Coach, who caught it while barely batting an eye. “Keep an eye out for med packs.”

            Nick scanned the hallway, hoping to have any excuse to start whipping his ax through the air, but paused briefly. There was a noise coming from down the hallway, one he was unaccustomed to. If it wasn’t the gagging of a Boomer or the screaming of a Hunter, or any noise the infected made, it stuck out. And this was a crackling, gritty whine. He tilted his head to the side, recognizing such a noise but having a hard time placing it.

            “… That sounds like a radio,” he said to himself, and followed the noise.

            Ellis quickly reloaded his rifle just in time to spin around and see a Charger rushing down the hallway. “Charger!” He shot at it multiple times and it fell just before snatching him off the ground. He exhaled, and shook his head. “Shit. Kinda close.”

            “Hey guys!” he heard Nick call, and he trotted in the direction of his voice. “I found a ham radio over here!”

            “Well hell, son, start talking!” Coach exclaimed, darting out from an examination room and huffing towards Nick as well. “See if anyone’s out there and if they can help us!”

            “What did you think I was gonna do?” Nick muttered to himself, and lifted up the transmitter. “Uh…. Hello? Is there anyone out there who can hear me?”

            Ellis was the first to enter the room, and he stood behind Nick, biting his nail.

            “This is Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, is there anyone out there who can hear me?” Nick repeated. Coach was the next to enter, then Rochelle. All they could hear was static, and all of them held their breath, hoping with all hope that someone, anyone, was out there. “Repeat, this is Memorial in Jacksonville, is there anybody out there?.... Over…?”

            Ellis exhaled, scratching his head and swallowing. The crackling static was loud and harsh, and it was echoing in his ears. He was about to just leave the room and keep searching for supplies, when the static suddenly broke for a moment. All of them leaned in, expectantly.

            “…. This is Crawdad, hear you loud and clear Memorial, over,” the thick accented voice said, and all four of them grinned. It wasn’t news to cheer to yet, but a sudden sense of hope began to run through the companions.

            “Hi, Crawdad, what is your location?.... Over?” Nick asked.

            “We’re here offa New Orleans, Memorial, you say you were in Jacksonville?”

            “Yeah, yeah, we’re in Jacksonville,” Nick nodded, leaning forward. “It’s… It’s a wasteland here, what is it like out there?”

            “Well, it ain’t great, but could be worse,” Crawdad said. “The Evac Center here is still in tact, I assume that ain’t the case out there if’n you’re calling out to anyone who’s listenin’.”

            “Yeah, that’d be right,” Nick snorted. “Do you still see evacuations out there, or-?”

            “Sure do! Don’t know for how much longer, but after you cross the Bridge, you find the Evac Center,” Crawdad said. “But last time I talked to the Military over the radio, they said they was goin’ to abandon it. Start plannin’ from sea.”

            “Planning from sea?” Rochelle asked, smacking Nick on the shoulder repeatedly. “What does he mean-?”

            “Meaning what, exactly?” Nick asked, and held up a hand at her to make her stop.

            “I don’t rightly know,” Crawdad stated. “I just man the radio over here off shore, listenin’ for people like you. Carriers.”

            “Carriers?” Ellis muttered, but the others didn’t notice, or perhaps didn’t care.

            “Crawdad, tell me something, how many more runs are you guys doing out there?” Nick asked.

            “I think they said that they wanted to shut it down in four days, then close the bridge, somethin’ like that,” Crawdad said, and Nick put a hand to his head. “But if you and your companions can get here in that time, there should be plenty of room for you! Plenty of room!”

            “Four days?” Rochelle hissed, slight panic to her voice. “We couldn’t possibly-!”

            “Crawdad,” Coach said, snatching the radio transmitter from Nick. “You hold them as long as you can, we’re going to be there.”

            “Alright,” Crawdad said, though he didn’t sound too convinced. “I guess I’ll see you then. God’s speed, Memorial.”

            “Hold on!” Nick hissed, grabbing it back from Coach. “Crawdad? Crawdad, are you still there?”

            “Sure am, Memorial.”

            “Great. Tell me, have you possibly seen a teenage girl in the groups of survivors that have come through?” Nick asked. “Brown hair, green eyes, height about five six or seven, goes by the name of Daisy? Probably on her own-.”

            “Sorry, Memorial, can’t say I have,” Crawdad replied, regretfully. “I’d say that I’ve seen too many teenage girls to count, but honestly, I haven’t seen many people these past few days. Think I’d remember a teenage girl travelin’ on her own.” Nick slammed the transmitter down, and stood up from the chair, leaving the room..

            “Thanks anyway, Crawdad, see you in four days,” Coach said, and turned back to his companions. “You heard the man. We’re headed to New Orleans.”

            “How are we supposed to get to New Orleans in four days on foot?” Rochelle demanded. “There’s no way.”

            “So we find another means of transportation,” Coach said, leaving the room after Nick.

            “You say that like it’s easy,” Rochelle griped as she and Ellis followed them. “We couldn’t find wheels in Savannah, what makes you think we’ll find them here?”

            “I have faith,” Coach answered, and she groaned, angrily. “You may have given up, sister, but I’m going to get to New Orleans before they stop evacuating people.”

            While Coach and Rochelle argued about odds, Nick and Ellis just leaned against the walls, exhausted and thoughtful, though both for different reasons. Ellis looked over at Nick, who was staring up at the ceiling of the hospital. “Nick?”

            “Yeah?”

            “You ever been to New Orleans?”

            “A few times. You?”

            “Once, with Keith. He got a voodoo curse put on him when we went…. I think it’s pretty cool we get to go there,” Ellis admitted, and grinned a little bit, though it wasn’t the grin that Nick had gotten used to.

            “It’ll be a regular Mardi Gras,” he said, sarcastically, and popped some pain pills in his mouth. The wounds on his torso was healing slowly, but it was still a constant dull ache when he wasn’t on the meds. Just one more thing Cherie was able to do before dying. It wouldn’t be a very attractive scar, but what could he do? At least he had Ellis to help him with the bandages every night.

            Coach and Rochelle called the two of them over to look at a car that had minimal damage to it. Not only minimal damage, but it was positioned in such a way that they would probably get it out of it’s spot. “It was unlocked, which was a pretty good sign. No keys though. What do you think? Think it’s feasible if we can get it started?” Rochelle asked, and Ellis looked it over.

            “Externally it looks fine,” he replied, pensively. “If it starts I can take a look at the engine, just to give it a once over. But it’s the best vehicle we’ve seen since Savannah.”

            “Well, that’s the first problem,” Coach said, scratching the back of his head. “Like I said, no keys. So unless either of you know how to hotwire a car-.”

            Both Ellis and Nick raised their hands.

            “Okay, Ellis is a mechanic so that makes sense,” Rochelle said, and turned to Nick, questioningly. “What’s YOUR excuse?”

            Nick shrugged. “Ever see ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’?”

            “Yeah….?”

            “It’s kinda like that.”

            “Man, I love that movie, that’s freakin’ sweet!” Ellis exclaimed, and Coach rolled his eyes, not surprised but still judgmental.

            “But please, Ellis, by all means, you do it,” Nick continued, and Ellis nodded as he threw the car door open.

            “You got it. I’ll get this thing goin’ lickety split.”

            “While he works on that, the three of us should go looking for supplies,” Coach said. “Gotta stock up if we’re road tripping to New Orleans.”

            After a few minutes of searching, Rochelle found a couple red containers, the shape familiar and tell tale. She lifted one up, and smiled. It was practically full, and when she took a sniff the harsh and familiar scent of petrol rose into her nostrils.

            “Found some gas here!” she called, rushing over and heaving the two of them in the back of the car. “There might be more in that area!”

            “More gasoline would be good!” Nick called as he looked at a group of infected. He frowned, and choked up on his ax, rushing for them. They weren’t much of a challenge, really. Catching them off guard ensured that. After he cut them down he exhaled, wondering if there were any more hiding in the area. He liked the sound that they made when they died, it satisfied him more than cigarettes would now. Whenever their blood splashed on his clothing, on his hands, or face, he felt powerful. Strong. In complete control of whether or not they were going to continue shambling around. It was like he was killing those that killed his daughter.

            He noticed a car with it’s lights on, and wondered if it was alarmed. That would bring more infected, more things for him to rage against. Without even thinking about it, he raised his ax and brought it down on the windshield of the vehicle.

            Ellis had holed up underneath the dashboard of the car, trying to get it to jump, when the noise of a car alarm startled him so badly he smacked his head on the hard plastic. He swore, and forced himself out of the car just in time to see Nick rushing back with his ax up high, a horde of the zombies chasing after him. “Nick, what the hell?!”

            “Stupid fucking car alarms!” Nick shouted, as Coach and Rochelle tried to cover him. Nick spun around, ready to face the creatures, and began hacking at them with all his might, shouting with each swing of the ax. “DIE YOU SHIT EATING MOTHERFUCKERS!” Ellis was going to offer assistance, when he saw the car with the broken window. The hole the ax left was right in the middle of the windshield, a very deliberate blow. As if Nick had purposely smashed it. He shook his head, pursing his lips in fury, and went back to working on the wires.  Think about that later. Get the car going now.

            The engine roared to life, and Ellis cheered and immediately checked the gas tank. It was almost full. It probably wouldn’t get them all the way to New Orleans, but if they could find some gas on the way-.

            “Ellis!” Coach exclaimed, and Ellis hopped out of the car. “Look good?”

            “It’s gonna hafta do!” he replied, and Coach, Rochelle, and Nick all ran over. “Coach, you drive, just follow signs to 10 and drive!”

            “We don’t have enough supplies-!” Rochelle protested, and Ellis pointed violently at the swarm of infected coming.

            “No fucking time!” Nick shouted, throwing himself in the back seat, Ellis right behind him. “Ro, get in!” Rochelle swore in exasperation, and got in the car too. As soon as she shut the door, Coach floored it. Ellis rolled down his window and shot at the infecteds that were trying to stop the car, and Nick followed suit. Coach, being an aggressive driver even before The Infection spread across Savannah, didn’t slow down even as he ran zombies over, or as they bumped up onto the hood, blood splashing the windshield. All he did was turn on the wipers, and Rochelle shook her head.

            “Two cans of gas,” she lamented. “Two.”

            “Better than nothing, sister,” Coach said.

            As soon as the road had cleared up a bit, they all breathed long sighs. Ellis rested his head against the back of his seat, and Nick did the same with his window.

            “It’s almost over, y’all,” Coach stated, trying to be reassuring. “New Orleans is eight hours away. If this car can hold out that long, we’re home free.”

            “I’m not getting my hopes up,” Rochelle stated coldly, and rested her forehead in her hand. “How the hell did that alarm get tripped anyway?”

            Ellis looked over at Nick, who just continued to stare out the window, and didn’t know how to react when the older man said “Who knows? One of those things probably ran into it.”

            Ellis shook his head, knowing damn well that was a lie. He’d seen Nick rushing back from a group of them, he’d seen Nick pursue unnecessary kill after unnecessary kill, and he knew that this time it had backfired. For Nick to put all of them in danger was one thing, and to not own up to it was low. But Ellis knew that Nick would not learn from this, because he no longer cared. He’d practically given up, taunting the infected and hoping that maybe they would take him out too.

            Nick looked over at Ellis, who was staring at the ceiling of the car. The older man ventured to place a hand on Ellis’ knee, but the mechanic pulled it away, defiantly. Nick snorted a bit, and went back to looking out the window. Fine. Be that way.


	12. Chapter 12

They didn’t stop driving until they were nearly across the panhandle, and Coach’s eyes were starting to droop. The fact of the matter was that none of them had slept, and none were prepared to drive on through the night. They pulled over to the side of the road, and decided to hunker down for the evening. Though Coach and Rochelle were in high spirits, Ellis and Nick were both feeling down for their own reasons.

            Though he was tired, Ellis was unable to sleep, and opened the car door to go for a walk, carrying his gun and bag of ammo. If there was going to be a fight he wanted to be prepared. He turned on a flashlight, and listened carefully. After determining that he was basically alone, he shuffled over to a tree, and lit up one of Nick’s cigarettes. He figured that if there was ever a good time to just say ‘fuck it’ and start smoking, this was it. He didn’t think that dying of cancer was his ultimate fate. He coughed as the foreign substance invaded his lungs again, not sure he’d ever get used to it, but forced it into his chest. It seemed to calm people down, after all.

            “Hey.” Ellis twisted around, and saw Nick a few feet away from him. Ellis nodded, and waved. “Can’t sleep either, huh?”

            “Nope.”

            “See anything out here?”

            “Not really.”

            “….. Is there a reason you’ve been giving me the cold shoulder since the car ride?” Nick asked, voice hinting at irritation, and Ellis shrugged, shaking his head.

            “I haven’t done that.”

            “You have and you know it. You won’t even let me brush you with my arm on accident. What gives?”

            Fine. If that was the way he wanted it…“You alerted that horde on purpose,” Ellis stated, simply.

            “… Huh?”

            “Don’t play dumb, Nick, today,” Ellis replied, voice frosty. “When I was hotwiring the car, you went off to kill some of those zombies, and you hit that other car, and the alarm alerted that huge group.”

            Nick crossed his arms, and looked at the ground. “…. Yeah, maybe I did.”

            “And you LIED about it to Coach and Rochelle.”

            “Oh so what, we all got out of there alive, didn’t we?”

            “And what if we hadn’t?” Ellis demanded. “You can’t take unnecessary risks like that, Nick, we were doin’ just fine! None of them were even noticin’ us!”

            “Christ, Ellis, we’ve faced the horde many times-!”

            “It’s one thing to stumble upon one, it’s somethin’ else to spook one up!” Ellis hissed, pointing the burning cigarette at Nick angrily.  “Why would you even do somethin’ so stupid?!”

            “It doesn’t matter if I ‘spook one up’ or not, Ellis, we are all going to DIE anyway!” Nick shouted, snidely. “May as well speed up the process so it doesn’t draw out!”

            “You can’t be serious! We have a car, we’re gonna get to New Orleans-!”

            “You are SO naïve!” Nick snarled. “There is no rescue for any of us, kid, and at this point I’m just about ready to stop fooling myself and just let fate have it’s way! I don’t think I’d really care if the zombies ripped me to shreds right now, especially since they’re going to do it eventually!”

            The words slashed deeper than Ellis thought they would. “….What is wrong with you?”

            “… Are you fucking joking?” Nick asked, voice dangerously low. “Are you honestly asking me what’s wrong with me, you goddamn inbred fucking hick?”

            Ellis absorbed the insult and raised his eyebrows, flicking the cigarette to the grass. “Yeah, you psychopathic Yankee pussy, I’m askin’ you. After everything we’ve been through, all of us, you are just ready to throw yourself to the zombies?”

            “Why should I keep going on if it’s pointless?!”

            “It AIN’T pointless! Maybe you found yourself a death wish but I’m aimin’ to get to New Orleans and I’m aimin’ to escape this! And I don’t need your self pitying ass getting us all killed because you’ve lost your mind!”

            “Fuck you, Ellis!”

            “No, seriously, FUCK YOU, NICK!” Ellis shouted, no longer caring about attracting unwanted attention. “I know you’re upset! Shit, I know you’re sad about Daisy, and I can’t blame you! I’m so sorry, I wish I could fix it, I really do. I can’t even begin to know what you’re feelin’ right now, and I ain’t gonna pretend I can!”

            “Yeah, you’re fucking well right you can’t understand this-!” Nick raged.

            “But sometimes it takes more balls to keep on LIVIN’ for someone after they’re gone than it does to die for them! At least when you live on for them you don’t make their death a complete waste! Goddamn it, I KILLED my Mom! I FUCKIN’ KILLED HER, and I am STILL here and I am STILL fightin’ tooth and nail to get to New Orleans, for her, for Coach and Rochelle, for you! I didn’t just give up! If you just go off and let yourself die, you’ve failed me, and you’ve failed Daisy!”

            Nick crossed his arms, scowling and forcing himself to keep control, despite the emotion that was erupting from the mechanic. It had never occurred to him that this gentle and caring kid could be so overwrought with this kind of anger towards him. That anyone could. Yes, Cherie had been mad before, but not because he had hurt her, never because he’d hurt her. She’d just hated him. With Ellis, it was a pain that came from caring about him so much.

            This is why it’s better to not care about me, kid, he thought, and averted his eyes.

            Ellis put his hands to his head, and looked up at the stars, growling in frustration and emotional turmoil.

            “Maybe you can’t ever see yourself feelin’ anything anymore, and that’s your business, not mine,” he settled on. “So yeah. Fine. Go and kill yourself. If you’re thinkin’ that way, we’d all be better off without you. I’D be better off without you.”

            Ouch, Nick thought.

            And as if to rub salt in the wound…“I’m just glad this happened before I actually fell in love with you, because THAT would have been a REAL waste of my time.”

            Nick remained still, and Ellis shook his head, sadly. He began to walk back towards the car, and passed his lover, breezily, but Nick grabbed his arm. For a second, Ellis thought that they were going to resort to fisticuffs, but then Nick was kissing him, harder than he had ever done before. It was surprising, as even Ellis thought that he’d gone overboard with his rant, but he went with it. After all, Nick was his deepest bond now, and connecting with him was the only thing that really made him happy in this world. Even if he was furious with him at the moment, his libido overruled his logic, and he was letting Nick yank his shirt over his head and throw his hat to the ground. He pulled Nick’s coat off of his shoulders, and pawed at the tattered blue shirt. The con man helped him unbutton it, removed it himself, and groaned sharply when Ellis pulled him close. The younger man winced, and gently pulled back, looking at the bandages across the con man’s chest. Nick, sensing the young man’s hesitation, shook his head, and yanked him close again.

            “Don’t worry about that,” he breathed, voice imposing, so Ellis buried his face in Nick’s shoulder, peppering little kisses down it and across his collar bone.

            Nick hastily unbuckled his pants, letting them fall (they dropped easier now, maybe due to all the running and lack of food), and threw his clothing to the side. He got on his knees, untying the coveralls, getting ready to free Ellis so they could begin, but the mechanic stopped him, taking his wrists in his hands.

            “What?” Nick asked, looking up at him, and Ellis pulled his lips in his mouth, debating how to say it. “For Chrissake, Ellis-.”

            “I want you to look at me,” Ellis replied, feeling that would be as quixotic as he could make it sound.

            “What?”

            “Just… lie down,” Ellis said, pulling him to the ground with him. “I want to look at you while we do this.”

            Nick was about to protest, as he didn’t look at any of his lovers. Never had. Even when it was with women in the missionary position he would look away, or keep his eyes closed. It was that one last way to remove himself, even when they were at their closest. But Ellis looked like he needed it to happen, and since Nick needed THIS to happen, needed some kind of distraction from that aching hole in his body, he nodded slowly, lying back on the soft grass and removing the last of his undergarments as Ellis did the same. The younger man was hovering above him momentarily, and then his mouth descended upon his cock. Nick closed his eyes, taking in a shaky breath, and moving an arm over his vision, reflexively. He hardened rather quickly, and Ellis worked his tongue in tantalizing motions until Nick was nearly bucking his pelvis, still refusing to look at anything. Ellis held the other’s hips in place as he moved his head up and down, and Nick began to breathe heavily, the heat feeling so damn good, so damn invasive. What he had anticipated to be angry sex was turning into something much calmer, much more bittersweet.

            The ministrations ceased, and he felt Ellis slowly lean forward, felt his hands laying on the arm that blocked the view to the outside, pulling it away gradually. Nick opened his eyes, and found himself face to face with the young mechanic.

            Ellis didn’t break eye contact, and leaned in to kiss him again. Nick raised his head to meet him halfway, taking the back of the kid’s head in his hand and snaring his fingers in his hair. Ellis’ tongue flicked in and out of Nick’s mouth, and he gently pushed the older man’s legs apart, silently suggesting that they go in the direction he’d hinted at previously.

            Nick was never one to ‘take it’. Yes, he had done it before, but that was when he owed a debt and the person he owed it to wanted it that way. And usually it was taken with more force that Nick would have liked. Because of these associations it was a position that he didn’t care to be in, in terms of susceptibility and lack of control. He pursed his lips and shook his head vehemently.

            “What’s wrong?” Ellis asked, eyebrows raised.

            “I don’t do that,” Nick replied, firmly.

            “Oh… Why not?”

            “Because.” How steadfast of you, Nick, he thought bitterly.

            “Because why?”

            “Because I just don’t!” Nick snapped, trying to get the kid to get back to business by grinding into him. Ellis could sense the apprehension behind the frustration. If there was one thing he knew about Nick, it was that he hated being vulnerable, that it scared the hell out of him. And with all the things he couldn’t be in control of anymore, this novel situation was scaring him more than it would have otherwise. So he took Nick’s hand in his, and smiled, reassuringly.

            “Do ya trust me?” he asked, gently.

            Nick swallowed, and nodded. “…Yeah.”

            And he did.

            So Ellis kissed his hand lightly, and leaned into his ear. “Well…. Good. Just relax, Gamblin’ Man,” he whispered. “I got this.”

            So tonight was different. Tonight he was going to let Ellis be the first to make him the willingly vulnerable one. And in fact, and this shocked him, part of him WANTED Ellis to make him the willingly vulnerable one.

            And therefore he said, “Okay.”

            Ellis swiftly snatched the bottle of lube from his bag, and ran a handful across his sex to make it more welcome. He positioned himself at the older man’s entrance, and carefully began to push himself inside. Nick shuddered in pain, but when Ellis stopped in response he moved his hand in a ‘get on with it’ motion. The younger man nodded, and slowly finished his entrance. Nick winced, as it was uncomfortable, even painful. But when Ellis began moving it started to feel better, and he became more at ease. As the kid pushed all the way in he couldn’t hinder a moan from his throat as he felt that familiar pulse inside of him. And it happened again, as Ellis had managed to stumble into that place that sent ripples throughout his body. In fact, Ellis kept the spasms coming, and Nick was starting to wonder if it was chance, or if the kid was just that good.

            “Shit,” he groaned, and Ellis stopped, which caused him to sit up a bit, alarmed that the shivers and heat had suddenly been taken away. “Why are you stopping?!”

            “I thought I hurt ya!” Okay, so it was just chance.

            “No, fuck no, it feels good, keep it up!” he demanded, and Ellis nodded enthusiastically, and continued his thrusts.

            And what overwhelmed him the most was that after all that numbness, all that apathy, he was starting to feel again. From the bottom of his soul, he felt joy, anguish, love, all of it in one desperate pulsing within. Considering the circumstances, it was nice letting someone else take the reins, in any context. And besides, staring into Ellis’ bright blue eyes and taking in every bit of pleasure they were both experiencing was an amazing thing. He knew that it would only be this way with Ellis, even if there were chance for anyone else (which he doubted). This kid was the only person he had let himself fully trust, even more than himself. It was haunting and wonderful at once, and he gripped Ellis’ shoulders, sure that he was going to leave black and blue marks.

            “Harder, El,” he growled. Ellis nodded, obeying, and another wave of pleasure throbbed through the older man’s body. “GOFUCKINGDAMMITWHATTHEFUCKYES.”

            “Good?”

           “You have no idea!”

            “I have SOME idea.”

            “I’m getting cl-close,” Nick stammered, surprised and thrilled that he was losing control of his vocalizations.

            “Yeah, yeah, so ‘m I.” With that agreement, Ellis pulled Nick up a bit more, going in deeper, and Nick let forth a strangled moan, unsure how much longer he could go. He dug his elbows into the grass, hands grasping his lover’s wrists, and they both teetered towards the brink, movements faster and harder. His back began to arch, knowing it was coming soon, and Ellis gasped the older man’s name over and over again.

            The final thrust sent Nick right off the cliff, and his orgasm caused him to yell out and clamp his arms around the younger man, the protests from his gashes enhancing the pleasure. Such a reaction, combined with the warm liquid that spurt across his abdomen, was all Ellis could take, and he too came and cried out Nick’s name. The con man held him close, breathing heavily as he floated down from his high, and once he’d let go the younger man rolled off into the soft grass, stretching his arms out and basking in the cool breeze.

            “…. That was awesome,” was all he said, and Nick looked over at him, catching his breath.

            “No kidding.”

            Ellis drew a hand across his forehead, hazily remembering the argument. Of course, the post-coital bliss was making it hard to recall the actual feelings, but he knew that at one time he had been angry. “You drive me freakin’ crazy sometimes, Nick.”

            “Feeling’s mutual, kid.”

            “But the fact of it is I need you,” Ellis continued, glancing his way as he picked up his discarded clothing. “You drive me crazy but that don’t matter.”

            “Yeah, pretty much,” Nick agreed, and closed his eyes. “…. I felt something though.”

            “Heh, yeah, I know, you were pretty noisy,” Ellis agreed, damn proud of himself.

            “No, I mean…. Emotionally.”

            “…….”

            “So that means I’m not a waste of your time, right?”

            How these roles could change at the drop of a hat. Ellis looked over at Nick, mouth open slightly, unsure of what to say. He’d said a lot of things in anger, in despair and worry. It had started out with Nick having to constantly reassure Ellis, from their destination to how they felt for each other, and now Ellis found himself to be the strong one at this moment. Maybe he’d been the strong one the entire time. He crinkled his eyebrows, and shook his head, regretting that he’d said it, said all those things, especially since he was at the point where Nick wouldn’t ever be a waste of his time.

            “No,” he answered. “No way, Nick.”

            “Okay…. Good.” Nick began to put his clothes back on, basking in the relief that he hadn’t lost the kid in his sorrow.

            “Just….. Just don’t try and get yerself killed anymore, okay?” Ellis asked, neighboring on pleading. “I don’t…. I don’t want to lose any more of you… Promise?”

            “Kid,” Nick began, that horrible word cutting him to the quick. “I can’t…. Promises don’t mean anything when they come from me.”

            “Well sure they do,” Ellis replied, but saw that such a thought had almost disturbed his lover. Nick swallowed, and sat up, resting his elbows on his knees and putting his face in his hands. He wasn’t going to cry, he was pretty sure he was out of tears for anything anymore.

            “I break promises to everyone. I broke my promise to her.”

            Ellis sat up, surprised that Nick was talking about Daisy. So he leaned forward, ready to listen. “How d’ya mean?”

            “I promised I would come and get her, and I was too late,” he said, voice muffled by his palms. “I’ve broken so many promises to her, but I really didn’t want to break this one… I don’t want to promise you anything because I CAN’T keep them for the life of me.”

            “…So what’s she like?”

            “Huh?”

            “Daisy. What’s she like?”

            He drew his hands away from his face. “…… Why?”

            Ellis shrugged. “Because when we find her I want to be able to tell her that you told me all about her.”

            Nick blinked at him, and furrowed his brow. Ellis didn’t know if he was going to take the bait or not, but when he removed his wallet from the pocket of his discarded pants, that was that. Nick opened it up and took out a small picture, handing it to the mechanic. “Every year Cherie made her do professional portraits. I don’t think she liked them, but my ex was pushy. This was the one I got in June.” Ellis examined the photo. She was definitely Nick’s daughter. Even though she was only fourteen when it was taken, she had his pale green eyes, his cool smile, the same shade of brown hair.

            “Well she’s cute as a button,” Ellis said, smiling kindly as Nick automatically smiled too, obviously taking pride in the statement. “How often do you get to see her?”

            “About twice a year. Three times if I’m lucky,” Nick replied, taking the picture back. “Usually either Christmas or her birthday, then some time during the summer. I think she’d want more, but Cherie won’t stand for it.”

            “Well you got rights. You could take it to court.” Could have taken it to court.

            “Yeah… Well, when Cherie and I divorced I figured that the further Daisy stayed from me, the better.”

            “That’s stupid.”

            “Not really, until The Infection happened I wasn’t much of a guy,” Nick said, shaking his head slowly. “Always moving from place to place, living from card game to card game and con to con. Given my occupation as a professional drifter and sting artist, pretty much everything I touch turns to shit. I wasn’t going to bring Daisy into any of that. She deserved a, heh, ‘cohesive family unit’, as my father in law referred to it. And as much as I found it to be a really stupid saying…. I would have killed to achieve that for her. But I couldn’t.”

            “ ‘Cohesive family unit’,” Ellis repeated, and snorted a bit. “Sounds kinda like a robot.”

            “His idea of it sure is,” Nick agreed. “I had to say no every time she asked me if she could stay with me.” He shook his head, bemusedly. “She hated me for it, I’m pretty sure, but it was for her own good. As much as Cherie and I didn’t get along, I could recognize that she could at least give our kid stability. Whenever Daisy came to visit out in California, or New Mexico, or wherever I was at the time, she’d ask if she could just stay with me, and I really wanted to say yes. But I’m a lousy Dad, and couldn’t. I mean, what were we going to do? Be like ‘Paper Moon’ and live happily ever after grifting people? Life doesn’t work that way.”

            “… So is she more like you or more like her Mom?”

            “OH, she’s more like me,” Nick stated, and chuckled. “She can be so sarcastic at times, it really REALLY pissed her Mom off. When she was six I taught her how to play Blackjack and she loved it. And she’s amazingly intuitive, if you’re a gambler you gotta be. I was going to take her on the circuit once she was eighteen, see what she could do…” He sniffed, and ran a hand through his hair. “Guess we’ll never know.”

            “No casinos after The Infection I s’pose,” Ellis agreed, knowing that wasn’t what Nick meant but emphasizing the hope they both needed. He began to put his clothes back on, and Nick followed suit. “What else?”

            “What do you mean ‘what else’?”

            “I wanna know ALL about her,” Ellis reiterated, plopping his hat down on his head. “Were you real excited when Cherie was pregnant?”

            “….. No,” Nick confessed, embarrassed to admit it. “I was twenty, Overalls. I was twenty and free and doing my own thing, and then I was saddled with a pregnant wife who I could barely stand to look at. Jesus, when she hunted me down and told me she was pregnant I wanted her to get an abortion, for God’s sake.” The very memory disgusted him at this point, looking back. “And when she went into labor, I had this plan. As soon as she squeezed out the kid, I was going to go file for divorce, work out a meager child support settlement, and blow town, never to see either of them again.”

            “Oh…. What changed your mind?” Ellis asked, and Nick smirked, shaking his head.

            “Daisy did,” he replied. “The stupid nurse asked me if I wanted to carry her to be weighed, didn’t even WAIT for an answer and just dropped this screaming kid in my arms. And BAM. That was it, I was done for. I was so glad I didn’t voice my plan to Cherie, cuz she probably would have taken me up on it. And I wasn’t leaving that baby behind, no fucking way. Aaaannd, I didn’t, at least not for six years.”

            Ellis crossed his legs and leaned forward, listening intently. “What else?”

            “This has to be boring for you,” Nick suggested, buckling his pants. “I know that my eyes used to glaze over when people talked about their rugrats. Still do, actually.”

            “Naw, it’s fine. I like hearing about it!” Mainly because thinking of the positive stuff made it easier for both of them. “Fine, only one more question, then I’m done askin’.”

            “Kay.”

            “What music does she like? Cuz I was thinkin’ that maybe someday I’d take her to a Midnight Riders Concert.”

            “GOD-.”

            “Aw come on, The Riders are awesome an’ everyone knows it! Do you think she’d like that?”

            “Um…. Actually, I don’t know,” Nick admitted, now more ashamed than ever about his lack of knowledge. “…. But when she was little I used to play The Pumpkins for her before bed.”

            “… The Pumpkins?”

            “Oh CHRIST tell me I’m not that old! The Smashing Pumpkins?”

            “Oh, sure!” Ellis said, now familiar with the full name. “Yeah, I’ve heard of them, yeah.”

            “Good… I used to play their music for her before she went to bed the nights I was home, from baby to the last night she was there…” He trailed off, thinking of the memory and how much it had hurt. He’d played one of the more subdued songs, and tried to explain to his six year old why she was moving away, why she wouldn’t live with him anymore and why he wouldn’t be there for her after that night (broke his heart she did; she’d asked if he’d stay if she stopped asking for a puppy for her birthday). She’d cried so hard, until she was unable to breathe, and he’d just hugged her, promising that he’d still be in her life and that he’d still love her… “…. Can we not talk about this anymore?”

            “Sure, that’s fine.”

            They returned to the car, and paused outside the door before opening it. Ellis scratched his elbow and shuffled his feet. “Sorry for what I said-.”

            “I needed to hear it, don’t apologize,” Nick said, shaking his head. “We have to keep going. Have to focus on getting to New Orleans. I won’t do anything stupid to get us in trouble. To get ME in trouble.”

            “Yeah, but…. I’m really sorry,” Ellis continued, insisting on apologizing. “It was just real mean’ve me to say that.”

            “It’s fine,” Nick said, softly. “Really. You’re forgiven. I just hope that you’ll forgive me.”

Ellis nodded gently, though he was more relieved than anything else. “I do…. Fact is, I would care if you died. I’m pretty sure that it’d wreck me.”

            “…… I won’t die, Overalls.” It was a statement he had little control over, but the parts he could control, he would keep in check.

            “Alright…. “ He moved close to the con man, taking his hand, reminding him that he was going to be there, no matter what. Nick accepted the palm and squeezed it, placing his other hand on Ellis’ jaw line, holding the gaze and leaning in for the kiss. It was rare that they did this outside of sex, and Ellis kissed back, placing his other hand on Nick’s hip and savoring the intimacy. Yep, he’s mine, he thought as they pulled away.

            “Think the gas will hold out ‘til New Orleans?” Nick asked, and Ellis shook his head.

            “Probably not. We’ll have to stop, but there are a bunch of small towns along the way. They may have gas horded ‘r somethin’,” Ellis replied, opening the door and lowering his voice to a whisper so as not to wake Coach or Rochelle.

            “And if they don’t want to give it to us?” Nick asked, gently closing it behind him.

            “…. We take it, I guess,” Ellis replied, shrugging.


	13. Chapter 13

The car's gas tank held out for awhile the next day. They were able to find small containers of gas at one abandoned gas station, but the pumps had all been turned off. Ellis figured it was due to greedy owners who assumed they would be back as the flu passed. Joke was on them.

            "Well y'all, I hate to say it, but it looks like 10 might be all tapped out," he lamented, elbow sticking out the window of the backseat. He looked over at Nick, who was still asleep. He'd been asleep since before Mobile, his body finally wearing out and letting him rest after the past few restless nights. Had he been awake he probably would have been more negative than the mechanic was.

            "Don't give up hope just yet, son, the gas we did find gave us boost," Coach replied, moving the sun visor so he could see where he was going. "It only takes one gas station with fuel to get us further."

            "Yeah, but there's no guarantee that there will be a station with fuel," Rochelle muttered from the passenger seat. "We're really running a risk here by just hoping-."

            "Well now, you were talking about risk? Looks like we just stumbled into some good luck!" Coach stated, cheerfully, and pointed at a sign, slowing the car down. Ellis and Rochelle both looked at where he was pointing.

            Someone had spray-painted an arrow on an exit sign, along with the scrawled words 'GAS ON 90'. Coach exhaled in relief. "See? Other survivors are lookin' out for us, just like they've done in the safe houses up and down the interstates."

            Rochelle frowned, and chewed on one of her nails. "That seems…. I don't know, suspect."

            "What's suspect about it?" Coach asked, defensively. "They're letting us know that 10 is a lost cause!"

            "But WHY would they do that?" Rochelle hissed, conscious that Nick was passed out in the back seat and not wishing to wake him. "Why bother coming back into the Mobile Metro Area from 90 JUST to let others know that there's gas to be had?"

            "Why would they leave food in the safe houses? Why would they leave ammo and pipe bombs in the safe houses? Because they want to help!"

            "Leaving food and weapons in safe houses is different," Rochelle argued. "It isn't something you have to go out of your way to do. People aren't going to go out of their way to help strangers, not if it's inconvenient."

            "Girl, you have to have more faith in people," Coach said, shaking his head. "What would they gain by tricking us?"

            "Sick pleasure?" she suggested. "Or fewer people to take the gas if they should stop and rest through the night?"

            "We haven't had any luck on 10, if people found gas on 90 we should go that way," Coach argued, ignoring her reasoning. "Honestly, Ro, don't you think that people have bigger things to worry about than steering us off the right path?"

            "Not if they think that we're as large a threat as the infected," Rochelle insisted, and turned around to look at Ellis. "Sweetie, what do you think?"

            "Um," he began, squirming in his seat a bit. "Well… I don't rightly know. Can I sit out of this vote?"

            "Fine, but that means we have to wake up Nick," Rochelle said, about to shake the con man, but Ellis scowled and swatted her hand away. "Hey-!"

            "Don't wake him up!" he whispered, fiercely. "This is the best he's slept in a few days!"

            "Well then YOU have to vote!" she whispered back.

            "No, I'm putting my foot down," Coach snapped. "We're goin' to 90! 90 goes to New Orleans too, it'll be fine!"

            "But-!" she began, but he started the engine again and revved it for emphasis before following the sign. "Dammit, Coach!"

            Ellis glanced over at Nick, convinced that he couldn't have slept through any of that. But he had. He bit his lip, and set a hand on Nick's knee. Hope he isn't too pissed when he wakes up and finds out the plan changed, he thought, worriedly.

* * *

It wasn't until they were in The Middle Of Nowhere, Mississippi that Nick finally woke up. He stirred and rubbed his eyes, looking out the window.

            "This does NOT look like a major highway," he muttered, voice skeptical. Ellis, partially dozing himself, started awake when he heard Nick talk.

            "We're on a back road offa 90," Coach replied, voice tense. Nick groaned, feeling a distinct crick in his neck, and looked at Ellis, dubiously.

            "Why are we on a back road?" he asked, voice still drowsy.

            "That's MY question," Rochelle snipped, and the oldest man in the car hunched forward, trying to concentrate on the drive.

            "…. Are we in a SWAMP?" Nick exclaimed, pressing his hands against the glass.

            "There might be gas on these back roads, cuz there sure as shit wasn't any on the highway," Coach explained, and Nick turned to Ellis, who just held up his hands and shook his head, absolving himself from any responsibility.

            "Why would you think there would be any in a swamp?" Nick exclaimed, and Coach hit the steering wheel.

            "Because there were signs! Someone had written that there was gas along 90, and then there were other signs for gas, REAL signs for gas!" Coach justified, though Rochelle was shaking her head, exasperated and defeated.

            "Why would you follow man made signs for gas?" Nick demanded. "Don't you know that people are bastards, and that any bastard could have written that just to fuck with us?"

            "I don't need to hear this right now, Nick!" he barked, and Nick rolled his eyes and leaned back into the seat. "God dammit, we're running on fumes."

            "Look, just calm down everyone," Ellis interjected. "Sure, we're in a swamp, but there are people who live in these areas. Saw it on a TV show once. They have these shanty towns or somethin', and communities and stores and everything. Which means they'll probably have gas."

            "Swamp people?" Rochelle asked, voice hinting at disgust. "Sorry, Sweetie, I know you're trying to sound encouraging, but I'm having a hard time swallowing that."

            "Yeah me too," Nick agreed.

            "They're real, I swear!" Ellis complained.

            "I don't doubt that they're real, I just doubt that they'll help us," Rochelle said.

            "I doubt that they'll do anything other than kill us for our stuff," Nick muttered, and Coach swore just as the car began to slow down, utterly spent.

            "It couldn't hold out for a little while longer?" Rochelle groused as she threw the passenger door open, examining the area. "Guess we should have looked a bit harder for more gas at that last station."

            "This ain't terrible," Ellis said, also getting out of the car. "We're a lot closer to New Orleans now, ain't we? We still have three days to get there."

            "Assuming we can get through this swamp on foot," Rochelle said, sniffing the air. "Unbelievable."

            "It was a judgment call, and it was a bad one, I admit it!" Coach stated, angrily, but more so angry at himself for daring to go off the path. "Let's just figure out where we are, and if we can hoof it. OR maybe we'll find some gas, who knows?"

            Ellis let out a low whistle, and pointed. "Look at that sign! 'No Military: Stay Out!'"

            "It's like goddamn 'Deliverance' over here, I don't know if I should be more afraid of the infected or horny inbreds," Nick said, shaking his head. "So do we go in?"

            "Look! There's a gas station!" Rochelle exclaimed, pointing ahead, and their preoccupation with the sign fell away. As Nick rushed over to the pumps, he took in his surroundings and inferring just what they meant. People had come down this way, there were more cars around than he would have expected for a swamp community. So they weren't the only ones to be tricked by the signs. But something big had happened here. Overturned cars, broken pavement, a smashed motorcycle, all these things led a path towards the gas station. People couldn't have done this. Hell, even the infected couldn't have, unless they were working together. Which was pretty hard to believe. He couldn't help but think about the ground rumblings they had experienced earlier in the journey, wondering if perhaps they were getting closer and closer to whatever the source may have been.

            Ellis held up his rifle and aimed at an infected woman, who had popped out from behind a car and rushed him. As he squeezed the trigger she fell back, a mass of brain and hair and blood flying from her head. Ellis shuddered a bit, unable to help wondering just what she had been like in life.

            "It's all boarded up," Coach said, despondently, and Nick held up a hand. He moved forward, and swung the ax at the wood. It gave way after a few good thwacks, and he stepped back, running an arm across his brow.

            "Nice one," Ellis commented. He flicked on his flashlight and jumped through the window while Rochelle tested the pumps.

            "Dammit, Overalls, be careful in there," Nick hissed.

            "Don't worry, it's empty."

            "What're you finding, Ellis?" Coach asked, and Ellis ventured further into the darkness.

            He examined the ground, and among the chaos and mess he saw candy bar wrappers on the floor, and an empty bottle of orange juice. "People've been here before us. Maybe they were able to find gas."

            "Or maybe they belonged to those cars and that motorcycle out there," Nick countered, entering the shop as well, no longer comfortable with Ellis being alone inside. "OR maybe it's just the swamp people who were in here."

            Coach climbed in after him, and glanced at the shelves. No candy bars left. "Rats."

            "Well, I think that findin' signs of life is pretty okay," Ellis murmured, moving his flashlight up the wall. "How'd they get out with the windows all boarded and shit?"

            Nick's gaze looked up at a broken privacy window glass shattered on the floor, a chair shoved up against the wall. "My guess? Smashed the glass there from the outside, and climbed through both ways."

            "Seems like a good presumption. There's ammo too, and a couple blunt objects," Coach said, picking up a few boxes for his gun, the other men following suit. "If we have to go into the marsh it's good to be prepared."

            "I really don't want to go into the swamp," Nick declared.

            "Might not have a choice," Coach said, as Rochelle slowly entered the store. "Any luck?"

            "Nope," she said, shaking her head. "Pumps are on but the gas is gone. I think we have to go into the bayou. Try the swamp people."

            "The bayou ain't all bad," Ellis said. "Me 'n' Keith road tripped down to the bayou one summer, it was real fun."

            "Why would anyone want to road trip to a bayou?" Nick asked, skeptically, as they loaded their guns.

            "Well what did YOU do for fun back durin' the First World War?" Ellis asked, teasingly.

            "First off, I'm not THAT old, thanks," Nick said, sneering. He didn't like being reminded that he was robbing the cradle with this one. "Secondly, I'm from California. It's called 'the beach'."

            "The beach is dangerous," Ellis said, stubbornly, and Rochelle decided to keep her smile to herself. "Do you know what they have at the beach? Sharks."

            "The swamp has alligators!" Nick tossed back, flabbergasted such an argument could be made in full seriousness.

            "Do you know what the chances are of a gator attack?" Ellis sniffed, cocking his gun.

            "Probably greater than a shark attack in Santa Fucking Cruz!" Nick argued. He didn't see it, but Coach and Rochelle could tell that Ellis was keeping him distracted with ridiculous non-sequiturs, anything to keep his mind off his daughter. And it seemed to be working.

            "Beaches also have jellyfish and riptides."

            "Swamps have snakes and quicksand!"

            "Now, see, quicksand is actually a myth," Ellis explained, crawling out of the gas station window, the others close behind. "Though on our trip Keith DID step in something that MIGHT have been quicksand, but since it isn't supposed to exist we never followed up. Regardless, he was up to his neck in the stuff! Had to use a stick to pull him out, it was real funny."

            "… God you're ridiculous," Nick muttered, and pushed ahead, pondering just what he had done in a past life for him to fall for such an odd little fellow.

            "It's cuz he knows I'm right," Ellis said to Rochelle, and she nodded, humoring him.

            Nick was surprised that it wasn't the smell, or the sludge, that bothered him most. Hell, it wasn't even a neurosis of stepping on an alligator or a snake. It was the bugs. He'd never seen (or felt) such disgustingly large bugs in his entire life. Convinced that some of them were actually small birds, he swore and swung his arms through the air, only ignoring them when he had to take care of an infected, or one of the more mutated ones. He'd nearly missed shooting a Boomer because something bit him on the neck just as he was about to pull the trigger. Luckily the Boomer moved with the barrel of the gun, and he was spared being puked on.

            "How could you possibly vacation out here?" he shouted, turning to Ellis.

            "It's relaxin'!"

            "It's TERRIBLE!"

            Rochelle was about to tell them to cool it, lest they bring any attention to themselves, when she noticed that there were planks laid out across the bog. "Guys, look, wooden paths! I bet it's a lot faster going when you don't have to traipse through the mud."

            "Good eye, Rochelle," Coach said, gladly thunking down on the boards. "Hopefully the town is close. I bet they emptied out the gas pumps for their generators. Maybe they'd be willing to lend us some."

            "Unless the bodies and zombies strewn through the swamp are what's left of the town," Nick replied.

            "Nice to hear a voice of dissent," Coach said, sarcastically. "If we can barely move through the swamp, Nick, why do you think the infected could do it?"

            "Because they're completely insane for one," Nick replied. "And they don't seem to get tired for another. We're probably going to wear ourselves out and be ripe for the picking."

            "Nick, hush," Rochelle said, pushing ahead of them. "How can people live out here like this?"

            "That's what I'M saying!" Nick exclaimed. "Jesus, it's one thing to want to get away from society, but it's something else completely if you just cut yourself out of it."

            "We don't understand these people's mindsets so we really cannot judge them," Coach said, as a mud covered infected rose out of the slime, scurrying towards him with a motion reminiscent of a spider. "What in the HELL-?"

            "It's a mud man!" Ellis exclaimed, whipping his katana out. Coach didn't waste any time before shoving it off with his gun, and then shooting it multiple times. "Hey, I wanted dibs."

            "… Well, I bet THAT'S what happened to the swamp people," Nick said.

            "You can't be sure," Coach replied, though he did feel a bit more discouraged now. "Lord have mercy-."

            "What the Christ is that?" Rochelle exclaimed, pointing ahead. The others followed her finger, and Ellis' eyes widened.

            Strung up above the dock was a large Charger body, a trophy for someone who lived in the area, who was probably long gone by now. Ellis strolled up to it, and gazed up, whistling as he removed his hat. "Now that makes my uncle's deer head look like a big hunk of nothin'."

            "Can't blame them," Coach said, as Rochelle grimaced in disgust. "Think of all the damage these things can do. If I had the ability to take a trophy, I'd do it."

            "Next time you kill a Smoker you can make a belt out of it's tongue," Rochelle suggested, wryly.

            "Sick!" Ellis laughed, and she shrugged.

            "Girl, you can be just as bad as those two sometimes," Coach stated, gesturing towards Nick and Ellis, and she grinned at the two of them. "Just keep an eye out for any sign of life. Maybe they'll help us."

            "Or maybe they'll ask us to squeal like a-," Nick began, but shut his mouth when Coach gave him a death glare.

            After a small fire fight (involving Rochelle throwing a Molotov at a horde and Nick shooting a propane tank), they crossed the river via an old rickety ferry, moving deeper and deeper into the bayou. Mud men would pop up, but now that they expected them it was easier to handle the messy creeps. By the time they had made it to the shantytown, they were exhausted, and losing hope.

            "Guys… I hate to say it but I think we should turn back and foot it," Rochelle said, grimly. "We can't afford to waste too much time in here, especially if we have to walk the rest of the way to New Orleans."

            "She's right," Nick said, kicking the scummy water. "We should probably turn around."

            "Well let's just check the houses in this village first, and if we don't find anything, we'll turn around," Coach said, reluctant to have ventured out there for nothing. "We'll split up and meet back here in ten minutes. Then we go back."

            "Sounds good to me," Ellis said, and rushed off, hoping to find something to raise their spirits.

            Nick wiped his brow again, as the humidity of the swamp was getting to him, and moved towards the back of the houses, thinking that maybe people had hidden some things in their haste or fear. He wasn't optimistic, but he may as well try. Maybe he'd find a new weapon, as his ax looked like it was starting to give under the constant thwacking into bone and flesh. He noticed a chainsaw, and was sorely tempted, but knew that lugging it would be a pain in the ass. And besides, it would run out of gas eventually. Not practical.

            He aimed his gun around the corner of one of the shanties, and jumped when he heard that familiar coughing noise. Oh great. Just what I need, he thought, scanning the bushes, the swamp, the trees. If he could see anything that would tell him where the Smoker was, he'd just pick it off willy nilly. Maybe finally redeem his record, in which Smokers had a handy lead over him.

            "Ellis?" he hissed, thinking that maybe he was nearby, but didn't hear anything in return besides the distant groans of gators and buzzing of insects. "Fuck." His stomach tightened, and he spun around in time to see an infected woman about to bite him in the face. "Jesus!" He smacked her back with his gun, and shot her in the stomach. Her intestines were visible as she fell, and he rolled his eyes. "Stupid bitch, why'd you stay in this godforsaken swa-."

            He was cut off by the Smoker's tongue wrapping around his chest, dragging him up against a distant tree. He tried calling out, but the tongue kept wrapping up higher and higher, until it had covered his face and he couldn't breathe or see. He flailed his arms, lifting off the ground and feeling his weight in his armpits. He struggled in a panic, knowing that if he couldn't scream, they wouldn't come to help him. Split up my ass! he thought, and clawed at the slimy cords around him (was it even tongue? Or intestines? He pondered this as his mind began to turn a bit fuzzy from the lack of air and the throbbing).

            Just when he was about to let it take him, let it kill him and hope that Ellis didn't have to see what was left of him, a shot rang out. The tongue went limp, and the Smoker shrieked out as Nick and the oily entanglement dropped to the ground. He heard another gun shot, and could smell the acerbic cloud of smoke as it was destroyed.

            He began to peel the tongue off of himself, and let out a long string of hoarse expletives, rolling over and taking in deep breaths.

            "Jesus!" Ellis shouted, mucking over to him through the gunk. "Man, are you okay?"

            "Fucking Smokers!" he wheezed. "Christ, I'm glad you saw him when you did, I was almost toast there." Ellis helped pull him up, but looked a bit confused.

            "I didn't see shit, I heard the gunshots and came to find you," he replied, and a puzzled look went across Nick's face. "I thought you freed yourself-."

            "No way, it was squeezing me to death, I didn't have a free hand… Coach or Rochelle?"

            "No, they're over there across the town," Ellis said, shaking his head, and they both began looking around, alarmed. "Do you think someone in the town lived-?"

            "I don't know," Nick replied, looking around for his savior. "Wouldn't we have seen…?"

            He trailed off as he looked up on one of the elevated house porches about ten yards away, unsure that what he was seeing was real.

Up top there was a brunette girl, clothes torn and covered in mud and gore, holding up a gun. Her brown hair was tousled and dirty from exposure, and her chest was heaving violently, just as stunned to see him.

            There's no way, he thought.

            He swallowed, the shock sending a bursting breath into his lungs, and it seemed to alert her that he was, indeed, standing down there, looking up at her. A disbelieving look remained on her face, but she launched herself off the porch, landing in the swamp and running at him, difficult as it was through the mud. Nick still didn't move, worried that if he did she would somehow dissipate into the sticky air. It wasn't until she opened her mouth, and screamed "DAD!" that he let out a cry of joy and disbelief, and ran towards her too. She flung herself at him, practically tackling him to the ground, and as soon as he was touching her, as soon as he knew that she was actually there, he finally allowed his happy tears to flow. She sobbed into his chest, and he kissed the top of her head over and over and over again.

            Ellis watched it all, his emotions running from doubt to surprise to happiness, and he removed his hat, scratching his head. It was such a heavy and powerful sight, he wasn't sure he should be witnessing it, and yet he couldn't look away. It was the happiest he had ever seen Nick, the first time he had seen absolute and unbridled joy pour from him, and it made his heart swell with glee.

            Nick pulled away briefly, just to put his hands to her face and examine her. "Let me get a look at you, Aces, are you hurt?" She shook her head, adamantly, and he nodded, smiling and brushing the tears from his face. "You're okay? You're sure you're okay?"

            "I'm okay, I am," she confirmed, nodding readily. "Are you okay?"

            "I don't know if I've ever been better," he muttered, and hugged her again. "Jesus Christ, Daisy, I didn't think I'd see you again, I thought you were dead-."

            "I'm not, I'm not," she said, waving her hands in front of herself. "I'm sorry I didn't wait for you, I'm sorry-!"

            "Don't be," he cut her off. "I'm sorry I didn't get there as fast as I should have." She nodded, and turned to see Ellis, who was still watching.

            "Who's that?" she asked, and Nick turned around to see Ellis, having forgotten for a moment that there was anyone else on this planet other than him and his daughter. He exhaled, and smiled at Ellis, who smiled back at him, and waved.

            "That's Ellis," he replied, taking her hand and pulling her up with him. "He's a friend… Come on, let's get the fuck out of this nasty swamp."

            "Can I get my gun and my hammer?" she asked. He gave her a surprised glimpse, but nodded.

            "I'll come with you-."

            "Don't bother, I saved your ass, I think I'll be okay," she said, and chuckled a little bit, wiping her eyes. "It'll only take a minute."

            "Well, okay, but be quick," he said, and she nodded, and rushed back towards the shanty. As she hurried off, Ellis moved next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Please tell me you see her too. PLEASE tell me-."

            "Sure do, Nick," Ellis confirmed, grinning. "Sure do." Nick exhaled, and put a hand to his mouth, taking in a deep breath through his nose. He brushed the last of his tears away, and put his hand on top of Ellis', who squeezed it reassuringly. "She looks just like you."

            "God, don't say that," Nick chuckled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. "Not fair to her."

            "Come on now."

            She returned with her shotgun (Ellis wondered if preference ran in the family) and her hammer, which she kept in a messenger bag that was just as bloodstained as her clothes were. It was clear she'd seen a lot of fighting with the infected, and Nick put an arm around her shoulder, determined to protect her from now on. If she didn't have to fight another zombie ever again, he'd consider his job done. He didn't know what she'd been through to get here, but wasn't going to ask her, as much as it killed him. If she was anything like him, she'd have to open up on her own terms. So he just held her close as the three of them made it back to the middle of the shanty town.

            Coach and Rochelle left the houses they were searching, and were surprised to see that there were three people waiting for them instead of two. Though she was a little thrown, Rochelle knew exactly who the girl was, not only by the way Nick's arm was around her, or by how jubilant Ellis looked, but how she had the exact same natural smirk that had pissed Rochelle off during the trip through the South. But on this girl, it was the best sight she'd seen in a long time. She smiled, and rushed over to them, Coach trying to keep up with her. She slowed to a stop a few feet away, and she made eye contact with Ellis. He nodded at her, and she nodded back, and turned to the teenage girl.

            "You must be Daisy," she said, kindly, and Daisy nodded, cautiously. "I'm Rochelle. I'm so glad that I finally get to meet you." Daisy raised her eyebrows, a small smile creeping on her face, and shook her hand.

            "Nice to meet you too," she said, and Coach grinned, and pat Nick on the arm. While Coach introduced himself, Rochelle slipped next to Ellis and slinked her arm around his back. He glanced at her, and did the same, both silently wrapping up their conversation from a couple nights ago. It was nice to have an unadulterated happiness in the group, even if only for a few moments.

 

**A/N: Okay... .So yeah, it's original character time. And I know that the very phrase sends a lot of people into defense mode, me included. I will just say that I handle the various OCs I write with the kiddest of kid gloves, so hopefully she won't be reviled. I've had fairly positive feedback in the past, so I hope that I will live up to said standards here as well. And I PROMISE she won't save the day all the time or have the bright ideas that get them out of any pickles. I fucking hate that.**


	14. Chapter 14

Daisy had eaten three cans of food, as Nick had offered her his share for the evening and the others had pitched in so he wouldn’t go completely hungry. She wasn’t saying much, all they could get from her was that she had fallen for the fake gas signs on 10 just like they had. Other than that, she didn’t want to go into details, not right now. He just watched her while she ate, barely listening to Coach going over the next move. She glanced over at him, and raised her eyebrows.

            “I’m not going to, like, disappear or anything, Dad, you don’t have to stare,” she said, voice more concerned than annoyed.

            “I know that,” he said, deciding that maybe he should listen to what Coach was saying and not act like she was made of glass. No teenager appreciated that, especially the independent ones, which described Daisy to a t.

            “Now that we’re back on the road, we should just follow 90,” Coach was saying when Nick dove back into the conversation. “We’re a little ways off from Gulfport, which means we’re probably a little more than a day and a halfs walk to New Orleans. If we make it before the four day mark, that’s great, but we need to be there by…. Hell, I don’t even know what day it is anymore.”

            “It’s Sunday,” Rochelle said, and then paused. “I think…?”

            “So Wednesday,” Coach finished. “Which means no more goofing around. We put all our energy towards getting to New Orleans.”

            “An’ if we’re lucky we might even find another car!” Ellis stated, and looked at Nick for some kind of reaction, but Nick was too preoccupied watching Daisy eat, even though he said he’d stop.

            “Dad, seriously, stop,” Daisy groused, turning away, and Nick rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in a huff.

            “Fine, that sounds like a good plan, Coach,” he said, nodding, trying to move his attention to something else.

            “That’s the first time you’ve openly agreed with me on anything,” Coach replied.  “Have to admit I’m surprised.” Nick kind of was too.

            “On the radio the guy said that we had to get to a Bridge,” Rochelle pointed out, fiddling with her fingers. “How many bridges are in New Orleans and which one do you think he means? Coach, Ellis, you’ve lived in the South the longest of any of us. Any ideas?”

            “Well,” Coach began, scratching his head, “there are three that I can think of. There’s the Green Bridge, the Clairborne Avenue Bridge, and the Causeway. Maybe there will be signs in the city.”

            “We could take bets on which bridge it is,” Ellis suggested, but no one seemed keen to take him up on it.

            Since it was yet another night without a safe house, they went back to their watch routine. Nick stood about five yards from the fire, cleaning out his shotgun as best he could, ruminating on how lucky he was. He had finally accepted that this wasn’t a dream, that Daisy was asleep inside the circle and out of danger, to a point. He hoped that sometime she’d share with them just what she’d done to stay alive so long, on her own, though the blood and scum stains on her clothing and bag were fairly tell tale. He had wanted to shield her from the nastiness of the world by keeping himself out of her life, but now he understood that it was up to him to keep her safe.

            “Are you going to sleep okay?” he asked her as she pulled the hood of her pullover onto her head.

            “I think I’ll manage,” she replied. “Honestly, the ground isn’t much harder than the cot I was on the past few nights, so it won’t be too different.”

            “Okay…. If you need anything, find me, or just yell for me, I’m just going to be over there on patrol, so-.”

            “I will,” she cut him off. “… You can stop doting, Dad, it doesn’t really suit you.”

            “Hey, I can dote like the best of them,” he said, and she chuckled. “But okay, I get the hint. No more doting… Alright, well….” Fuck, how was this supposed to work? It wasn’t like they were in his one bedroom apartment of the moment after all. She averted her eyes, and then did her best to smile at him.

            “Night, Dad.”

            “Yeah… Yeah, goodnight Aces.”

            He sat down in the soggy grass, and lit up a cigarette as he leaned against a tree. New Orleans was so close and yet felt an eternity away. He was preparing himself for another let down, not trusting anything the Government said anymore. What was left of the Government anyway. The Military he supposed, though that scared him a bit, being so anti-authority. He wasn’t sure what their tactics would be, though anything seemed better than CEDA.

            He jumped a bit when he heard a noise to his side, but it was just Ellis, and he exhaled.

            “Sorry,” Ellis apologized.

            “I still have to get that bell for you I guess,” Nick said, and Ellis sat next to him, also settling against the rough bark. “You should sleep, your shift is in an hour.”

            “Nah, remember? I work better with less sleep,” Ellis assured him. “…. Really good day today.” Nick laughed quietly, and nodded.

            “No shit,” he replied, and looked at his lover briefly. “Probably the best since the world ended… You were right.”

            “About what?”

            “She was alive this whole time.”

            “Oh…. Yeah, well, honestly I was just tryin’ to be strong-.”

            “I know, but it was appreciated,” Nick acknowledged. “I don’t even want to think about what she had to go through to get here….”

            “I guess,” Ellis replied. “Whatever it was, she’s tough as nails.”

            “So it seems,” Nick said, nodding. Believing them to be unnoticed he paused for a few seconds, and then took Ellis’ cheeks in his hands, kissing him deeply. Ellis smiled as they kissed, and set his hands on Nick’s shoulders, squeezing them affectionately as the con man pulled the mechanic into his lap.

            Nick raked his hands up Ellis’ back, moving them under the shirt so he could feel skin, and Ellis grabbed the lapels of his white coat to pull him more into his mouth. Nick exhaled as the kisses moved from his lips down his neck, and was about to start on the hick’s shoulder, but then stopped himself, grabbing Ellis’ wrists.

            “Hold on, wait,” he gasped out, and Ellis pulled away, face attentive. The older man then cleared his throat, gearing up to breach a subject he’d wanted to avoid. Especially since the kid was in his goddamn lap and so, SO willing. “….. Ellis….. Since Daisy is here now…. Well, she doesn’t know….. She hasn’t seen me with anyone besides her Mom, and….”

            “….. Oh,” Ellis replied, quietly, eyebrows crinkling, and he immediately pulled himself back a bit. “You don’t want her to know that we’re… whatever we are-.”

            “Just for now,” Nick cut him off, trying to sound reassuring. “It’s not because of you, okay? And she isn’t an excuse for me to just… To just dump you or something, because I don’t want that. At all.”

            “…Kay.” The younger man completely removed himself from the lap, and sat back down on the grass.

            “I just need time,” Nick continued, voice a bit strained, as he didn’t want to take a break from Ellis. Far from it. But he felt he owed it to Daisy to focus all his attention on her for now.  He’d screwed up when it came to her so often before, he didn’t want to do it now or ever again. “Just need to get a feel for how she’s doing, and then I’ll tell her.”

            “I understand Nick,” Ellis said. And even though it hurt to hear it, he DID understand, ultimately. When he was a kid and his Mom would start seeing a new guy, she would introduce them right away, believing that it should be done fast and therefore without much pain, the old bandage adage. And it made him really uncomfortable and bitter towards the new man in her life. He definitely didn’t want Daisy uncomfortable with him, as he didn’t want to end up like all of his Mom’s suitors. “That’s fine…”

            “It won’t be for long,” Nick said, moving to put his hand on Ellis’ leg, but hesitating. The kiss was hard enough to break as it was, and he thought that if he touched him again he’d forget the whole thing and bury himself in the kid. Ellis, however, saw the hesitation, and it just made him feel even bluer.

            “Kay Nick,” he settled on, swallowing his hurt as best he could, and grinning that huge grin of his, even though it was forced now. “Just let me know.” Nick gave a half smile, and turned back towards the trees. “…. Well, I’ll be back in an hour.”

            “Alright.” As soon as Ellis had trudged back towards the camp, Nick swore at the how unsatisfied his dick was at the moment.

            Ellis stepped into the circle, but knew he wasn’t going to sleep. Instead he just curled up on the ground and stewed in his thoughts and insecurities. After all, even when Nick DID tell her about the two of them, that wasn’t a guarantee for the two of them to start up again. And he knew from experience that if the kid doesn’t like you, and if the parent is decent, the lover is out. Perhaps this was karma for scaring off all his mother’s boyfriends, those who were decent people whom he simply didn’t want to share with. Had his mother kissed them the same way Nick had just done, right before saying goodbye? He ran a hand down his face, and heaved out a weighted breath. Dammit, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

            When it was his turn to patrol, Ellis didn’t look as carefully as he might have other nights. Yes, he was able to pick off some infected with his katana so as not to wake anyone, but if there were lone and non-curious zombies in the bushes, he didn’t notice them. He sat on a log, listening to Coach snore in the short distance, and stared up at the sky. So he didn’t notice Daisy get up until she was seated next to him on the log.

            “Hey,” she said, and he glanced her way.

            “Oh. Hey,” he replied. Oh boy.

            “Ellis, right?”

            “Yep, that’s me.”

            “Does that big guy always snore like that?”

            Ellis gave a sharp guffaw, and then nodded. “You’ll get used to it.”

            “We’ll see…. Any zombies?”

            “Not many,” he replied, shaking his head. “… So when you were sleepin’ in the swamp, what noises did you hear?”

            “Noises?”

            “Yeah,” he said. “Did you hear bugs? Or gators maybe?”

            “I guess. How come?”

            “Well, cuz this one time, me and my buddy Keith were campin’ in the bayou and I couldn’t sleep because I kept hearin’ the gators hissin’ and bellowin’,” he said, figuring a story would keep his focus off his discomfort. “That and Keith kept yellin’ about bugs chewin’ on his ass, so that kept me up too. That’s not exaggeratin’ either, apparently he had huge bite marks all over his ass. I didn’t seem ‘em or nothin’, but he sure wouldn’t shut up about it, so I assume they were pretty bad.”

            “…. Didn’t you guys bring bug spray?”

            “Well we did, but he’d wasted most of it makin’ a flame thrower,” he answered, and she arched her eyebrows a shook her head. “I called dibs on the last of the spray, so he had to be eaten alive by the bugs.”

            “He sounds kind of funny,” she said.

            “Oh, he’s REAL funny,” Ellis grinned. “He makes me laugh all the time. He can just make any situation funny, even if he doesn’t mean to! That’s what I like best ‘bout him.”

            “Is he… still alive?”

            “Last I saw he was,” he replied. “Leavin’ notes on safe houses and stuff. Said he was goin’ to New Orleans, so maybe I’ll see him there.”

            “Maybe…” she said, and smirked a bit, charmed by the thought. “So what were you before?”

            “Before what?”

            “Before this,” she replied, gesturing to the sleeping people in the camp and his gun. “What were you? What did you do?”

            “Oh….. I was a mechanic in Savannah,” he said. “Hung out with Keith an’ Dave, fixed cars with ‘em, lived with my Mom…. I guess I wasn’t too interestin’ before all this.”

            “Me neither,” she agreed.

            “Oh, I was in a band though, I play bass,” Ellis said, proudly.

            “Yeah?”

            “Oh yeah, some people think bass is borin’ but I really like it.”

            “Bass isn’t boring, it holds a rhythm.”

            Hm, this isn’t so bad, he thought, and got a little bolder. After all, she was only human, just like him. He could talk to anyone else, why should she be any different? “Well, what about you? What’s your story?”

            “Heh, it’s not too interesting,” she admitted, wrinkling her nose in thought. “Lived with Mom and her husband. Got As and Bs in school. Was on the track team. Even had a boyfriend, sort of, we went out for milkshakes a couple times…. I was pretty much the average American girl before all this…. Now I’m Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

            “Aw hell yeah, that was a CRAZY show,” Ellis said, excitedly, and her lips spread into the wry smile her Dad had. “… He’s real happy he found you.” She nodded, and ran a hand through her messy hair.

            “So tell me. How’d you guys hook up?”

            The phrasing was unfortunate, and he tried to figure out just what she meant by it. Her face seemed pretty neutral, so he decided to take it in the non-sexual context. “Just met after the Infection got to Savannah. Thought we’d team up, and met Coach and Rochelle too. Been with them ever since.”

            She nodded a bit, and clasped her hands together, resting her elbows on her knees. “…. Is it really twisted that I kind of like myself better now than I did before all this shit happened?”

            Ellis had gotten over feeling awkward around her, as her opening up to him made him more at ease than he had been previously. So he shook his head. “Naw, I don’t think so. I mean…. Shit, I don’t know. In some ways I like myself better now too. I hate this world we’re in, but I like me. And I like all the people I’ve met, like Ro and Coach, and your Dad…” He trailed off, and removed his hat, starting to feel a bit nervous after all. Just let Nick and Daisy work things out, don’t try to speed up the process by buttering her up.

            “… So you and my Dad get along okay?” she asked, and Ellis wished she would stop dwelling on Nick. “Because you seem real nice, and he can be kind of a bastard.”

            Ellis knew all too well, and smiled grimly. “Kind of a bastard, huh?”

            “Oh, don’t get me wrong,” she said, holding up her hands. “I love my Dad. We get along just fine, most of the time. But yeah…. He can be kind of a bastard.” She pursed her lips in thought, and scratched her head, uncomfortable.

            “…. He sure can,” Ellis agreed. “He ain’t been too bad though. We get along just fine.”

            “That’s good,” she said, and stared off into the woods. “…… I told him that I knew he’d come for me, but…… Honestly? I was sure he’d just given up and run back to California when the shit really hit the fan.”

            “…. That’s not how it happened at all,” Ellis said, not really sure what to say to her now. “He…. He was real worried, Daisy…. He almost went crazy tryin’ to find you. At times I thought he DID go crazy.”

            “Hm… Well, good,” she said, voice cold, and stood up. “It sounds like Coach turned over, so I’m going to try and get some sleep before it kicks up again.”

            “Heh, sounds good,” Ellis said, and put his hat back on. “…. Hey, it was nice talkin’ to ya.” She nodded, and smiled at him.

            “You too, Ellis,” she said. “I’m glad my Dad found you… All of you, I mean… Well, goodnight.” She waved, and walked back towards the embers. Ellis couldn’t help but smile to himself, relieved. They got along fine. So the first and hardest part was out of the way, and in his favor. The rest of his patrol went by much quicker, now that it was off his mind, and after he traded off with Rochelle he found himself able to sleep better than he thought he was going to, even if he was missing Nick’s embrace.

 ____________________________

            “New Orleans always had the best pastries,” Coach mused, nostalgically. “Maria and I went there for our tenth anniversary, and we stayed at this place that had the finest beignets and coffee.”

            “Somehow I doubt the zombies will have that waiting for us when we enter the city limits. Sorry to disappoint, Coach, I know how you are about pastries,” Nick grinned, and Coach pretended he didn’t hear him.

            “I would sell my soul for a pastry,” Rochelle said, trying to ignore her stomach grumbling. “I never want to eat another can of vegetables again.”

            “Still have some time before you can rid yourself of them forever,” Coach reminded her. “We’re still a day away from New Orleans. And if the roads into the city are as congested as they were getting into Jacksonville…” He trailed off, not liking to think about the time it was going to take.

            Nick turned around to check on Daisy, as he barely kept his worried eye off her for more than five minutes (even if he didn’t get too close), and saw that she was walking comfortably with Ellis, chatting away with him. He wasn’t really surprised that they got along. After all, Ellis was the closest to her in age, being twenty three, but Nick was still relieved. Of course, had she been given the context of Ellis and his relationship, maybe she’d think differently. For now, though, they were playing a rousing game of I Spy as they walked down the road.

            “I spy with my little eye somethin’…. Green, big, and… well, wet, I guess,” Ellis said, squinting his eyes to stave off the sunlight. Daisy looked around, and pointed towards a wetland area.

            “Swamp,” she answered, matter of factly.

            “Shit, I shouldn’t ‘ve said ‘wet’,” he muttered, and she shrugged, biting her lip, trying to find something to give hints about. “Well, come on, your turn.”

            “I’m thinking,” she replied, and knit her brow off the side of the road. “I spy with my little eye something that begins with Z.”

            “… Zombies?”

            “Whatever makes you think that?” With that, she aimed her gun at an infected leaning against a tree, vomiting. The kickback made her hop backwards about a foot, as the weapon was a bit powerful (even for a beginner’s gun), but it did it’s job and the zombie fell into the marsh. Ellis whooped, and high fived her. Nick turned around to see them celebrating, and whistled.

            “Hey!” he snapped, and they both turned. “Try and keep up you guys!”

            “Oh, yeah, sorry Nick!” Ellis called, and he and Daisy exchanged amused glances.

            They stopped briefly to search a few cars that had stalled by the side of the road. When none of them were salvageable, they decided to try to open up the trunks and see what supplies they could find. Nick wedged his ax blade into the trunk of a Prius, and smashed the handle under his foot. Unfortunately, as he did so, the ax head snapped off the wood.

            “God dammit!” he shouted, and threw the remnants on the asphalt. He kicked it, and slammed his hands down on the metal.

            “What happened?” Ellis asked, coming up behind him, and Nick pointed towards his broken weapon. “Aw no. Nick, that sucks. That ax has been pretty trusty this whole time.”

            “Yeah,” Nick mumbled, and leaned forward, putting his face in his hands. “It’s really stupid but I feel like I just lost a part of myself.”

            “Naw, that ain’t stupid,” Ellis said, shaking his head. He pat Nick on the shoulder, but didn’t linger, as per Nick’s request the night before. The older man was about to say something, but Ellis was already off and trying to pry open other trunks. He sniffed a bit, and kicked the head of the ax.

            “Suck,” Daisy said, stopping next to him.

            “Could be worse.”

            “Yeah, a zombie could have popped out of that trunk right after it broke.”

            “True! Sure glad that didn’t happen.”

            “I don’t know, it coulda been funny.”

            “To you.”

            “Like a freakin’ Jack in the Box…” She trailed off, and continued to walk, propping her gun up over her shoulder.

            “Hey Aces,” he called after her, and she turned, briefly. “… If you ever want to…. I don’t know, talk-.”

            Before he could finish his sentence, an infected man rose up from behind the car she was standing next to. “DAISY WATCH-!”

            He didn’t have to finish, though, as she had heard the noise and spun around, whipping her hammer out of her bag. The skull was blindsided by the metal head, and it gave way with a sickening ‘crack!’, blood spurting onto Daisy’s face. She pushed the stunned creature away, and smacked it in the back of the head as well. As it fell to the pavement, she locked eyes with her Dad, who was staring at his daughter, mouth agape. All he could think was ‘I used to play Legos with her….’

            “I’m good. And besides, you hate talking, don’t you?” she asked abruptly, wiping her face, and turned back, rushing to catch up with Ellis. He twisted his face into a frown, and it began to slowly but surely occur to him that things were not as good as they seemed the day before. When they had found each other in the swamp she wouldn’t let go of his arm, but now she would barely look him in the eye. So Ellis was respecting his wishes and keeping his distance, his daughter was barely acknowledging him, and his ax was broken. It was turning into a hell of a day, and he was finding himself in a gloomier and gloomier mood as they searched the trunks.

            It only made him feel a tiny bit better when a tire iron was part of the bounty, and Rochelle tossed it to him. He caught it, and swung it a couple of times. “…. I miss my ax.”

            “I know you do,” she said, rubbing his arm. “You okay Nick?”

            “Yep,” he lied. “Anything else in the trunks?” Rochelle sighed, and crossed her arms.

            “Canned peas,” she muttered, rolling her eyes, and he snickered, and pat her on the back.

            “Tough break.”

            “I hate peas, Nick. I really and truly hate peas.”

            Ellis shoved Daisy playfully as she caught up with him. “Shooot, you sure know your way around a hammer.”

            “It’s not that hard, it’s kind of like Whack a Mole,” she replied, shoving him back.

            “An’ where’d you learn ta shoot? I mean, yeah, I’ve met girls who can shoot, but from what your Dad told me about your Mom-.”

            “Oh, no, that was Hank,” she replied. “Wanted me to learn how to shoot a shotgun so he could take me hunting with him and his buddies. Closest thing he had to a teenage son to take with….. First time I used a shotgun I really fucked up my shoulder. Then my Grandpa got me this Mossberg 20 Gauge and I could at least, you know, fire it without killing myself.”

            “Were you close to your step dad?”

            “No. Right after I got this stupid thing he lost interest in doing anything with me, so….” She trailed off, and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, doesn’t matter. Grandpa still took me once in awhile, so it wasn’t a complete waste.”

            “…You know who’d like you? Keith,” he stated, hoping to change the topic. “When everything gets back to normal, you’ll have to meet him, and I bet we could all go shootin’ or ridin’ on ATVs or somethin’! Of course, ever since he flipped that ATV once and broke his ribs, he’s been kinda hesitant to get back on one, or jump it over cars anyway. In fact, now that I think about it, there was this one time…”

            As much as they all wanted to get to the outer city limits by nightfall, they had to settle for fifteen miles off. Coach started a fire outside the safe house, and tossed a few cans of soup in the flames. As he cooked, and as Rochelle patrolled the perimeter, Ellis explored the safe house with Nick and Daisy. He threw open a footlocker and found some blankets and a pair of first aid kits.

            “Jackpot! We won’t be cold tonight,” he said, tossing a blanket at Daisy. She caught it but got a bit tangled in the cloth, and giggled sardonically. Nick helped her pull it off herself, and dropped it on the floor.

            “Any pipe bombs or Molotovs?” he asked.

            “Naw, not that I see…. Hey, what the hell’re these things?” Ellis mused, pulling out a couple syringes from the box. He handed one to Nick, who examined it with his flashlight beam. He read the side of it, and he snorted in surprise.

            “What the fuck?” he asked. “It says it’s from CEDA….. and it says it’s epinephrine.”

            “What, like… adrenaline?” Daisy asked, plucking the other from Ellis’ hand. “That’s totally weird. Why would they have those in shots?”

            “To give you an extra boost, Aces,” Nick replied, shaking his head. “How many are there?”

            “Only the two,” Ellis replied, and Nick took the second from Daisy’s hand and placed them back in Ellis’ palm. He curled the mechanic’s fingers around them, and glanced down below the loft.

            “Hold on to those,” he said, quietly, and Ellis was about to protest, not feeling comfortable keeping them from Coach and Rochelle. “Ellis, I know you don’t like this, but please just humor me. If they’re needed, I want you and Daisy to use them.”

            “…. Nick,” Ellis started, quietly, and Nick quickly pat his arm.

            “El…. Trust me,” he said, voice almost demanding. And after pausing a moment, Ellis nodded, sticking the shots in his bag.

            “I just want to let you know that I don’t like hiding this from those two,” he said, voice disapproving. Nick stifled a frustrated sigh, and instead pat Ellis on the shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

            “Tell you what, Overalls,” he said, deciding that compromise would have to do. “If either of them REALLY need it, then they can have it. But otherwise, it’s for you two.”

            “What about you?” Ellis asked, skeptical. “What if YOU really need it?”

            “I won’t.”

            “But what if you do-?”

            “ELLIS,” Nick snapped, and then glanced at Daisy, who was watching with interest. “…. I won’t need it, and if you try and give it to me, I will jab it into your eyeball.”

            “You will not!”

            “Okay, FINE, I won’t do that, but I will use it on you before you can use it on me, got it? I will wrestle it the fuck away from you,” he said, and Ellis snorted, shaking his head.

            “Fine,” he said, and stalked ahead, leaving father and daughter in the safe room. Nick clenched his hands into fists to numb his irritation, and then noticed that Daisy was trying not to smile to herself.

            “What?” he asked, defensively.

            “Nothing.”


	15. Chapter 15

They sat around the fire, Coach still talking about the damned pastries, and Rochelle saying that potato soup didn’t count as veggies, while Ellis would interject every once in awhile with his own opinions on whether potatoes were actually vegetables. The three of them always got a little more exited when they approached a supposed evacuation point, and Nick didn’t know if they couldn’t learn, or wouldn’t. Whatever it was, he wasn’t able to share in their enthusiasm. Instead he just ate in silence, looking at Daisy as she ate, quietly.

            “My Mom always said that potatoes have too much starch to be a real vegetable,” Rochelle stated, scooping a huge bite of soup into her mouth. “That’s why this isn’t me going back on my word.”

            “They grow in the ground, they’re vegetables,” Coach stated, resolutely. “Fruit grows on trees, vegetables grow in the ground.”

            “Well now what about tomatoes?” Ellis asked, scraping his soup can for the last of it. “Those are on vines.”

            “Fruits,” Coach replied, confidently. “Same with grapes. Vines are fruits.”

            “Don’t cucumbers grow on vines?” Rochelle asked.

            “Nope.”

            “I’m pretty sure they do, aren’t they part of the gourd family?” she asked.

            “Pickles ain’t gourds, Ro,” Ellis said, scoffing, and she wrinkled her nose at him.

            “Pumpkins, squashes, cucumbers, and gourds are all similar, I’m sure of it!” Rochelle insisted, and Ellis shook his head definitively. “Ellis, don’t shake your head, I know what I’m talking about!”

            “This is quite possibly the dumbest conversation we’ve ever had,” Nick said, grinning. “And we’ve had plenty of dumb conversations.”

            “It isn’t dumb,” Rochelle said, though she couldn’t keep a straight face as she said it. “I would venture to say it’s the nicest conversation we’ve had, since we haven’t once brought up the ‘z’ word-.”

            As she spoke, a Hunter’s scream erupted through the night air, sending all of them to their feet, weapons up.

            “Oh great, Rochelle, way to jinx it!” Ellis hissed her way.

  
            “I didn’t jinx anything!” she protested, as the growls and snarls sounded like they were coming from everywhere. “Shit. Shit shit shit. I think these guys are the worst.”

            “No, they aren’t the worst,” Daisy disagreed, just as the Hunter dropped on top of her. She screeched, arms flailing as it tore at her clothing and hair, and the others spun around, but were reluctant to shoot, lest they hit her. Nick threw his gun to the side and jumped at the zombie, knocking it off of his kid, and Ellis was there straight away, katana blade glinting. He kicked the hooded menace in the chest so it fell on it’s back, and brought the sword down across it’s neck. The Hunter’s head detached handily, and tumbled to the side. Nick had barely an afterthought about the dead zombie, and grabbed Daisy by the arms, pulling her up and looking her over. She writhed in his grasp, disturbed by the attack, and shoved him off of her.

            “I’m fine!” she insisted, standing up swiftly and walking towards the safe house, shaking her arms as if dropping the memory from her thoughts, shuddering all the while.

            “Goddammit, let me take a look!” Nick demanded, taking her wrist and pulling her back. She growled, but complied. As he inspected her, he noticed her upper left arm had dark crimson blood seeping through her indigo pullover. “SHIT.” She looked at her limb, and raised her eyebrows, surprised that there was even a scratch much less a large gash. She certainly didn’t feel it.

            “Take her into the safe house,” Coach commanded, and Nick had already pulled her with him inside, lifting her up on one of the tables. She continued to stare at her arm, curious and wondering when it was going to start hurting.

            It didn’t take long. Once it registered that she was, indeed, injured, the stabbing pain shot through her. Nick yanked the pull over off her, tossing it to the side, and turned towards the others (wishing it was the appropriate time to congratulate her on her Smashing Pumpkins band shirt, but that would have to wait). “Do any of the med packs have sutures?” The survivors began tearing open the first aid, and Rochelle whooped a bit and held up a kit. “Give it to me, with some gauze and some iodine.”

            “What are you going to do?” Daisy asked, tentatively, though she knew the answer and was nervous.

            “Ellis, clean her arm off,” Nick said, ignoring her as he wiped his hand down with an antiseptic cloth. “Rochelle, look in this place for any kind of pain reliever or… something, I don’t know! Even booze would do.”

            “Hey, Daisy, this ain’t so bad,” Ellis said, soaking the blood into the gauze. “Why this one time, my buddy Keith, he wanted to prove to me and Dave that he could juggle. And he decided that he wanted to juggle hatchets-.”

            “Hatchets?” Daisy asked, snorting a bit while she winced.

            “Yep, and he was doin’ real good too, until his dog Dale barked at a rabbit and he dropped one,” Ellis continued, removing the lid from the iodine. “That hatchet? It went all the way down his leg! It was disgustin’!”

            “God your friend is an idiot,” Nick muttered as Rochelle set a bottle next to Daisy on the table. “What is this?”

            “According to the label it’s Johnny Walker Red,” Rochelle replied, and Nick laughed out loud. Johnny fucking Walker in a safe house. Amazing.

            “Great,” he said, and turned to Daisy. “Okay…. Take a drink of this.”

            “Oh wow really?” she asked, the sudden thought of illicit drinking tantalizing her teenage mind.

            “Nick, she’s fifteen-!” Coach began, and Nick cut him off with a sharp move of his hand.

            “She’s fifteen and she’s about to get stitches without any kind of anesthesia! One swallow will take some of that edge off, believe me, I know,” he snapped, and Daisy looked at the bottle. “Go ahead, you have my permission.” She nodded and grinned excitedly, taking a gulp. The grin turned to a grimace, and she coughed.

            “Damn, that sucks!” she wheezed, and Nick chuckled, threading the medical needle with the suture.

            “Hey Daisy, have you ever heard of Jimmy Gibbs Junior?” Ellis abruptly asked, and she turned towards him.

            “Yeah, he’s the best racer out there right now, I like him a lot,” she replied, and Nick swallowed an incredulous huff.

            “Great, my kid fucking likes NASCAR,” he muttered, and carefully began to sew her up. She cried out briefly, and he cringed. “Sorry Aces.”

            “Ain’t nothin’ wrong with NASCAR,” Ellis sniffed, and turned back to Daisy. “You wouldn’t believe the kinds of wounds he’s gotten. You’d think he was that guy in the game OPERATION or somethin’!”

            “Yeah?” she asked, concentrating on the story as the needle moved in and out of her arm.

            “Oh hell yeah!” Ellis said. “Any good athlete has to go through epic accidents, everyone knows that. Why just ask Coach here, he was a football player!”

            “I sure was,” Coach agreed, seeing what Ellis was doing.  “The injury that ruined my career? Hurt my knee real bad, dislocated it after a mighty brutal pile up.”

            “Gross!” Daisy sneered.

            “Sure was. My coach popped it back in but didn’t do it right. It never was the same after that.”

            “Man, you guys and your friends lead interesting and painful lives,” Rochelle stated, shaking her head. “I haven’t broken any bone or needed any kind of surgery outside my wisdom teeth.”

            “It’s that couch potato lifestyle you Yanks have,” Ellis needled, and she rolled her eyes.

            “Right Ellis. Though I WOULD like to point out that health studies have shown that the South has more fat people than the North. Just sayin’.”

            “Ya gotta go state by state!” Ellis protested.

            Daisy glanced back at her arm, reluctantly, and realized that not only was her Dad almost done stitching her up, but he was doing an alright job of it too. “Where did you learn how to do this?”

            “Trust me, you don’t want to know,” he murmured, thinking of all those times he’d stitched himself up after being caught in a con or a hustle. “This can’t be the worst you’ve had. Ellis was right, all great athletes have great injury stories. You were on the track team, any come to mind?”

            “…. Well, one time Tina Burnside tripped me on purpose at practice and it sprained my ankle,” she said, angrily. “But I got her back, I put Ex-Lax in her Vitamin Water before a meet.”

            “HA. Classic,” Ellis snorted, and Coach shook his head, wondering just what had become of good clean fun on the playing field.

            “Oh I’ve done stuff like that before,” Rochelle agreed. “She probably deserved it.”

            “Whatever happened to just duking it out?” Nick asked, tying off the sutures and putting iodine on the wound again.

            “Girls don’t ‘duke it out’,” Rochelle stated, as if he didn’t know anything. “We just tease and implement psychological warfare until mental breakdown.”

            “Yeah,” Daisy agreed, and watched Nick as he placed one large bandage over the stitches. “…. Wow. That’s impressive.”

            “You tell me right away if it feels weird or worse in any way,” he said, sternly. She nodded, and reached for her pull over again, putting it back on.

            “Thanks,” she said, and looked away. “I didn’t even know you could do that.”

            “Damn Nick, maybe you should have done that after that crying zombie messed up your chest,” Ellis said, and Nick shrugged, hoping to avoid bringing up just who that crying zombie was. “Your Dad’s a regular George Clooney.”

            “George Cloo-. What are you talking about? George Clooney isn’t a doctor,” Nick stated, snidely.

            “Well he played one, didn’t he? That’s what I meant, it counts,” Ellis replied.

            “It doesn’t count!”

            “Sure it does! I think it counts, what was I supposed to say? I don’t know his character’s name or nothin’!”

            “It was Doctor Ross,” Rochelle interjected. When the other survivors eyed her, she shrugged defensively. “Hey! I LIKED ER, thank you very much!”

            “No surprises here,” Coach noted.

            “What’s THAT supposed to mean?” she asked, cocking a hip and going into sass mode.

            “He means it’s a girl thing,” Nick replied, snorting in amusement.  “Daisy probably liked ER too. Amiright?”

            “…. Nope,” she answered, voice soft.

            Rochelle, knowing when a teenage girl needed to talk but felt stubborn about it, nudged Coach and Ellis, motioning towards the door with an angle of her head.

            “Hey guys, let’s go do a quick scan of the woods,” she said. “See if that Hunter had any friends. We’ll be back in a bit, okay?” Coach and Ellis got the hint, and moved towards the door, though Ellis stole a quick glance in Nick’s direction, who met his gaze and nodded lightly. Ellis returned the nod, and left the safe house, closing the door.

            Nick cleaned up the gauze and tossed it in a corner. “Pretty scary.”

            “…. Yep.”

            “….. You’re right though, the Hunter’s aren’t scariest. It’s definitely the crying ones.”

            “What? The Witches?”

            “I guess, if that’s what you call them.”

            “You ran into a Witch?”

            “Um… Yeah,” he said, sorry he’d brought it up.

            “And you’re still alive?” she asked, amazed.

            “Well, worse for wear, she tore up my chest,” he admitted.

            She shook her head, slowly. “Well, they aren’t the worst…. It’s the Big Ones.”

            “What, The Chargers?” he asked, pulling a chair up across from her, and she shook her head again.

            “No, the Big Ones that chase you and make a lot of noise.”

            “…. That sounds like a Charger-.”

            “It’s not,” she stated, firmly. “I know what Chargers are. This was worse than a Charger.”

            “…… So,” he began, concerned but uncomfortable as well, and she sniffed, wiping her nose on her sleeve. “…. I don’t know, I mean, if talking makes you feel better I could go get Rochelle-.”

            “I don’t want to talk to Rochelle!” she exclaimed, glaring at him.

            “Jeeze, sorry!” he snapped back, holding up his hands. “I just thought that she would be better-!”

            “Why didn’t you ever come for me?” she cut him off, voice soft but still accusatory.

            “…. I told you, Savannah was a mess-.”

            “Not this time,” she said, green eyes glinting in the dim light. “Why didn’t you ever take me away from Brunswick?”

            He leaned forward, knowing it was going to be a hard conversation. Fact of the matter was that the only time they ever had a SERIOUS conversation, the kind that Dads were supposed to have with their daughters, was the night he told her about the divorce. So this was still novel for both of them. “…. I didn’t want to uproot you from your life. With your Mom and Hank it was stable, you had the life I couldn’t give you.”

            “Couldn’t, or wouldn’t?” she asked, flatly. When he didn’t answer, she rubbed her eyes. “Stable’s right. Stable and unchanging and…. Sucky. Stability was sucky. Hank was sucky.”

            “…. Oh Christ, he didn’t-,” Nick began, starting to feel sick and angry, but she shook her head, dispelling him of such thoughts.

            “No, God, no,” she protested, realizing she needed to clarify. “He didn’t hurt me in any way, fuck…. He just didn’t give a shit. He did when they were dating, but once he had her in the bag I was just his wife’s daughter. And Mom…. God, I loved Mom, okay? I loved her, and she loved me too, I know that. But we were so different, and as I got older, I got to be more like you, according to her. And she didn’t like that.”

            Nick listened intently, feeling worse and worse as her story unraveled, but he didn’t dare stop her. He’d opened Pandora’s box, and knew that closing it now would be unfair and futile, no matter how much her honesty made him squirm. Honesty seemed to make her squirm too.

            “When I came out to see you at Christmas and asked you if I could come live with you for probably the fifth time…. And you said no for the fifth time…” She clenched her hands, hitting her thighs with them, slowly. “I just wanted to shake you, because the people who didn’t get me didn’t want me to leave, and the person who did didn’t want me to stay. Do you know how much that hurt?”

            “….. No.”

            “Well I’ll tell you! It hurt a lot, a whole lot! So when you called and said that you were coming to get me, I had it in my mind that I was DEFINITELY going to go with you, no matter what Mom thought,” she continued, voice shaking but not allowing herself to cry, feeling that it would be weak to do so. “That you didn’t REALLY want me, but you’d have to keep me.

            “So I waited. But one morning, my birthday, actually, the toilet in the panic room broke. And Mom refused to piss in a bucket, as she put it. Hank told her that we had to stay down there, no matter what, but she refused to do that. And she went upstairs. Hank followed her, not to pull her back down, just to scream at her some more about not following the plan or something like that. I closed the door, not wanting to hear them yell at each other, but I could hear their footsteps as they walked above me…. And then there were more footsteps. And things falling over, and scratching noises on the floor. And I’m pretty sure I heard screaming, but it was hard to tell, maybe I was just imagining it.” She rubbed a hand on her forehead, recalling it all now.

            “I waited for an hour, hoping that they would come back down, but there was nothing…. Until I heard slow footsteps above me, moving towards the stairs. I knew that whatever it was, it wasn’t them. Not anymore anyway. I heard it stumble down the steps, and it let out this…. groan, I guess. I grabbed a handgun from his collection, and opened the door a little. Hank was stumbling through the den, sniffing the air. I think he was hunting me… So I hid behind the door. And his indifference all those years made it really easy for me to shoot him in the face when he came in the room looking for me.”

            It had been hard for Nick to do that sort of thing, and he’d seen and been through a lot. For a fifteen year old kid to have to do it…

            “I didn’t see Mom,” she said, sadly. “I did see her torn clothes and blood on the kitchen floor. I assumed that whatever it was that got Hank got her first. Part of me wanted to find her, but the other part said to get out of there. And honestly, I don’t think I could have seen her like that. I couldn’t wait for you anymore, and actually, I was convinced you were dead. So I grabbed supplies, my Mossberg, and a hammer, hopped in Hank’s pickup, and drove. Looked at the truck as a birthday gift… When you stopped at the house to get me, did you see Mom?”

            Oh boy. He chewed on a fingernail, and nodded cautiously. “I did.”

            “…She was infected, right?”

            “Yes. She was the… She was the Witch,” he admitted.

            She hesitated. “So, you killed her?”

            “….. Yes.”

            She took in a deep breath, and let it out, closing her eyes. He wasn’t sure what to expect now, so he began to try to explain. “I wouldn’t have done it had I known-.”

            “No, it’s good you did,” she said, quickly, though mournful. “It’s what she would have wanted. She would have HATED being a zombie. I mean, for Christ’s sake, she wouldn’t even piss in a bucket.” He couldn’t help but laugh, and shook his head. Yeah, outwardly prim Cherie would have hated staggering around with her own blood and vomit and who knows what all over herself.

            “I killed zombies too,” she continued. “It made me feel better. And I was actually pretty good at it, which is weird, right? I ended up on 90, by the swamp, because the signs on 10 said there was some that way. I was hoping to get some from that gas station on the outside of the swamp, but that was when the Big One came.”

            “The Big One?” Nick asked, and she nodded.

            “Yep. The biggest zombie I’d seen. It seriously makes the ground shake when it runs, and it ROARS. I knew that if I tried taking it on my own I’d be fucked, so I just ran. And honest to God, it chased me! Most of these things will kind of lose interest if you run far enough, but this one fucking chased me! I ran further and further into the swamp, and dove into some irrigation pipe thing, squeezing my way down far enough that it couldn’t get me. And it tried. But the ground was too thick and the pipe was in too deep. I had to wait, like, twenty minutes before it left. But I waited an hour more, to make sure it was really gone.”

             So that was what the rumbling had been. Nick nodded, entwining his fingers as he listened.

            “So of course I was lost. I wandered around a bit, and got REALLY lucky when I met a woman named Trudy. She lived in the swamp, that was her house you found me in. She told me that she was the only one left, and that she’d help me find my way out. We went back to the gas station by the train tracks, but the Big Zombie had overturned my truck. So Trudy said I could stay with her. So I did, and she was real nice. She showed me how to get into the gas station, how to get food and stuff. Told me about her family, and how much she missed them. But… Well, the next day she was taken by a Smoker, probably the same one that got you. I couldn’t get to her in time, and felt terrible because of it. That was when I finally cried, when Trudy was gone, because THAT was when I felt completely alone. Mom was dead, I figured all of her siblings were dead, and my grandparents, my friends. I assumed you were too. So I thought I was just going to hole up in the swamp and die, but then a couple days after Trudy died, well… You came to get me…” She trailed off, and held her lip steady. Instead of crying, she just shrugged, acquiescent to the life she’d found herself in.

            He didn’t say anything for a few minutes, taking in everything she’d said and sussing out the life he had created for her through his own fears. He had kept her away, telling himself that it was because it was for her own good, that she was better off without him and that he would just end up hurting her. And yet now he realized that he hadn’t been doing it for her, like he had always believed. He had been doing it for himself, afraid that he would get hurt if she rejected him as a Dad. Once again, it was for his own comfort and ease. Even when he was trying to be thoughtful it had gone right back to him.

            And man did he feel like shit because of it.

            So he stood up, and plunked down next to her on the table. He clasped his hands and held them between his knees, exhaling slowly. Whatever it was he was going to say…. It was going to be honest for once. It wasn’t going to dodge the issue, like he had always done with her. It was going to be different. Time to step the fuck up.

            “….. I was a piss poor Dad,” he led off with. “I was probably the shittiest Dad you would ever meet, actually.”

            “Whoa, I wouldn’t go that far-.”

            “I would. I sucked. But that had nothing to do with you and everything to do with me, okay Aces? It’s because I was weak, and I was scared. When I lost you the first time, it nearly killed me, so I just…. Closed myself off. But when I thought I had lost you for good, when I thought you had died, I wished that I could have taken it all back. We are in a rotten fucking situation, and unfortunately it took a rotten fucking situation to wake me up. I won’t keep you at a distance anymore, okay? I’m not making that mistake again.

            “I’m so, so sorry,” he continued, taking her hand, and she took in a shaky breath. “Starting now, things change.”

            She looked over at him, and squeezed his hand in reassurance. “….. So do you do the same thing with Ellis?”

            “Do what with Ellis?”

            “Keep him at arm’s length.”

            His face began to redden, and he stammered quickly. “Uh, why would I, er, do that with-.”

            “Well he is your boyfriend, isn’t he?”

            What the fuck? “… How did-? I never told you I was-.”

            “Gay?”

            “Not picky.”

            “Psh, okay, fine, ‘not picky’,” she repeated, as if it was interchangeable. “You didn’t have to tell me, I figured it out on my own.”            




            Nick pursed his lips in a scowl, and then chuckled cynically. “Oh really? What tipped you off then, I’m REALLY interested to know.”

            “Are you serious? When you lived in San Francisco you worked in the Castro for God’s sake!”

            “LOTS of people work in the Castro!” he protested. “And I was a bouncer at a bar, I wasn’t a fucking Go-Go dancer or anything! How do you even know what the Castro is?”

            “Hey, The Castro’s appeal isn’t exactly a big secret you know!”

            “Seriously, how did you figure it out?”

            “Besides the fact you worked in the goddamn Castro?”

            “Jesus Christ you have a foul fucking mouth! Yes, besides my job in the Castro!”

            She smiled furtively, and held up three fingers. “Three things. First of all, whenever Mom was mad at you over something, and didn’t think I was listening, she would call you a…. well, a term for a bundle of sticks… If you catch my drift.”

            He did. “REALLY classy.”

            “Yeah…. Second: Do you remember when I came out to San Francisco when I turned twelve?” she asked. He nodded. It was a nice trip, where they went to Alcatraz and Pier 39, and he took her to a really nice seafood restaurant for her birthday dinner. “After dinner, when you paid the waiter, you wrote down your phone number and slipped it in with the cash.” He sure had, and remembered it well because it led to a pretty good night of sushi and marathon fucking.

            “…. I thought I was being really sneaky.”

            “No, not really,” she said, shaking her head. “It was at that moment that I thought ‘Oh. My Dad likes dick.’”

“Oh you thought that, huh?”

“Yep. And I was okay with it too. Did he ever call you?”

            “Yeah…. So what was the third thing?”

            “Well, I kinda saw you kissing him last night.” Nick turned red, and leaned forward, covering his face with his hands.

            “Oh GOD.”

            “But even before that it was sort of obvious… I mean, take the way you two have been looking at each other this whole time,” she answered, biting a nail. “It’s your tell. You both look…. Well, completely head over heels.”

            Nick furrowed his brow, and scratched his head. Yeah, that sounded about right. Admitting it was hard, even though he didn’t want it to be, and he glanced towards the door, knowing Ellis was out there, probably waiting on pins and needles for their next move, for guidance on where they stood.  

            When he didn’t say anything, she cleared her throat. “It’s not a bad thing, you know. Connecting with people, I mean. You’re lucky you found someone who actually makes you happy. It’s…. it’s nice to see you happy.”

            He paused, and then reached into his pocket, remembering the trinket he’d held for her and her alone. He removed the necklace, and clasped it in his palm. “You had a very shitty birthday this year, it sounds like. And this probably won’t make things better, at all, but the whole reason I came down to Savannah in the first place was so I could give you this.” He dangled the chain from his fingers, and she accepted it, holding it up in the light.

            “ ‘To Aces: My Good Luck Charm’,” she read, and grinned gently. “This is nice. Thanks.” She pulled her hair back, and clasped it around her neck. “Let’s see how lucky I actually am, if we all die we’ll know it’s bullshit.” He snickered, placed an arm around her shoulders (avoiding her new battle wound), and left it at that between the two of them. He picked up the bottle of Johnny Walker, and took a swig.

“Want more?” he asked, and she chuckled as she wrinkled her nose.

“A world of no. We should go back out there. I don’t want them to think I’m going all ‘Sybil’ or anything.”

            “Yeah,” Nick agreed, her earlier words still rumbling in his mind. “Yeah, we really should.” They both hopped off the table, and Nick strode for the safe house door, walking with a purpose. Screw arm’s length. Screw his own comfort zone. The world had ended and his life had changed, so he was going to change with it.

            Ellis was leaning against a tree, chewing on a piece of grass and contemplating, when the door to the safe house opened. He turned to see Nick walking briskly, head held high and jaw set in a determined fashion. He smiled, trying to determine if the talk went well, and waved a bit as Nick approached him.

            “Hey Nick. How’d the talk-?”

            Nick cut him off by taking his arm in one hand and his cheek in the other and pulling him into a deep kiss. It was a surprise, to say the very least, and at first Ellis wasn’t sure what he should do. Nick never showed this affection in front of anyone else, and Coach, Rochelle, and Daisy were all watching. But hell, if Nick was okay with that, so was he, and he kissed him in return, circling his arms around Nick’s back and pulling him close. So the talk must have gone well then, he thought, and grinned that goofy smile as they embraced.


	16. Chapter 16

“Yeah yeah yeah, jus’ like that, Nick!” Ellis gasped, clutching the blanket in his palms as his back rubbed against the wool. Nick nodded as he rocked into him, one arm around the mechanic’s lower back and the other hooked around one of the toned shoulders. His knees were skidding on the cloth, which was in turn skidding against the concrete rooftop. It was more slippery than they had anticipated, but they were making due. “Mm, that’s good! More’ve that! Yeah, m-more, jus’ like-.”

            “Always jabbering.”

            “Wh-what?”

            “Nothing,” Nick replied, breathlessly accelerating his movements. Ellis’ back arched up, and Nick pulled him into his lap, their sweat combining and causing their skin to slip and skid against each other just as the blanket was doing on the roof. He kissed as much of the hick as he could, lips moving across lips, face, neck, shoulders, each moment of contact making Ellis hug him that much tighter as he was thrust into. He could feel Ellis’ muscles tightened around his dick, and he groaned in a satisfied manner, the shift in position suddenly making all the difference.

            “OH LORD! I’m almost there, Nick, I’m gonna come!”

            “Hold on just a little longer-,” Nick begged, feeling his orgasm, so close but stalled.

            “I don’t think I can!”

            “Just try!”

            “Shiii- Kay, I’ll try!” Nick rolled his hips up, now just concentrating on his own gratification since the kid’s was all but guaranteed. Focusing on the heat, the pressure, how great the mechanic looked sweaty and unhinged, his lips parted and adams apple bobbing up and down with the moans… Oh yeah, that was doing it, and he knew that he was stalled no more.

            Ellis pressed his forehead against Nick’s, trying to rein himself in, but was suddenly blinded by his trembling climax. He wailed with ecstasy, head falling forward in exhaustion and resting against the con man’s collar bone. Nick took a couple more thrusts and was soon with him, and though it was stubborn before it did not disappoint. While Ellis had made noise with little care for subtlety, Nick turned his head and shouted his pleasure into his shoulder. If he hadn’t, he was convinced he would have been heard in Alaska. He panted, muscles relaxing so much that he fell onto his back, limbs jelly. Ellis remained sitting up, catching his breath as he wiped his forehead with his arm, and then removed himself and splayed out right next to Nick, wrapping both of them in the blankets they had used for a makeshift bed. The older man smirked Ellis’ way.

            “Sorry Overalls, I don’t think I can go for three,” he admitted, eyes looking up at the stars.

            “That’s fine, I can’t either.” So instead he cuddled up against him, more than happy to just lay there. “Think we’ll make it to New Orleans tomorrow?”

            Nick shrugged, continuing to stare up at the sky.

            “I think tomorrow has been today for about two hours now,” he replied, looking at his watch. After the others had fallen asleep they had decided to set aside part of the evening together on the roof, making love and just spending time with each other. It had once again been a completely different experience. It wasn’t drunken, it wasn’t lust filled (well, not completely), and it wasn’t desperation. It was just the two of them, going slowly, calmly. Nick had stifled his moans both times, hoping that they wouldn’t be heard down below, though it was almost impossible to keep himself in check as Ellis made those delicious keening noises.

            Ellis’s arm draped lazily over Nick’s stomach, the older man’s arm finding a place around the younger one’s shoulders. “But yeah. If we make a good pace we could make it. Assuming nothing goes wrong.”

            “Things always do though,” Ellis said, lazily. “I don’t think we’ve avoided any hitches. It’s gettin’ to be real dumb.”

            “Real dumb, yeah,” Nick repeated, absentmindedly running  his fingers through Ellis’ hair. “I think we’ll make it to New Orleans… I just don’t know what happens after that.”

            “I’m not even thinkin’ that far ahead,” Ellis admitted. “Just one step at a time, that’s what my Mom always used to say.”

            “Fair enough.”

            “… Heh, I’m still a bit surprised Daisy could just tell the whole time, I thought we were bein’ real-.”

            “Subtle? Like I said, she’s incredibly intuitive,” Nick replied, shaking his head. “Of course, even if she hadn’t see us kissing it wouldn’t take intuition after tonight. I’d be surprised if you didn’t attract an entire group of those things with the noise you were making-.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “No, don’t be sorry.” After all, even if Alaska hadn’t heard him, Louisiana certainly had.

            Ellis smiled, and leaned back into Nick’s arm again. “… You ever been in love before?”

            “Nope.”

            “Wow, really? Not even once?”

            “Nuh uh.”

            “But you’ve been around since man invented fire, I’d think-.”

            “I’m NOT old, I’m only twelve years older than you!” Nick growled, and Ellis snickered.

            “Alright, alright.”

            “…Why?”

            “Just curious. I haven’t either,” Ellis admitted. “Don’t even know what it would feel like if it did happen. I just wonder if love is somethin’ that will even be around anymore, now that so many people are dead.”

            “That’s bleak. In fact that’s something I’D say. You’re supposed to be the cheerful one,” Nick said, wrinkling his nose.

            “Yeah, I know…. It’s just that I think you’re probably the closest I’ve come to it, bein’ in love I mean,” Ellis continued, not even worried about putting his heart on the line like that. Most people seemed to be really guarded when they admitted they were in love. At least, that’s what Nick heard and observed. He’d never felt a need to admit it to anyone, and those who admitted it to him were kicked to the curb soon thereafter so he never would feel a need.

             And it wasn’t like the timing was great either. They hadn’t exactly had the opportunity to wine and dine, or romance and date. Nick had never been one for dating or romancing, but he might have liked to do it with Ellis. He could at least see himself do that with the mechanic. Part of him wondered if this wasn’t just happening because of the circumstances. How could this happen in such a short time? How could he be comfortable with the kid when he hadn’t been comfortable with anybody, especially when at any moment they could be killed? How could they feel so deeply for each other?

            But when Ellis said it, or what was a few steps short of actually saying it, the con man didn’t want to run for cover, and he just knew, in his gut, there was no reason to question it further. He’d been worried that would happen, that he’d run or second guess everything, and now that it hadn’t, well… What else mattered? So he sniffed, and his mouth curled into a slight smile.

            “I think you’re the closest I’ve come to it too,” he retorted, and the smile grew as he looked at the younger man. Ellis smiled back at him, and crinkled his nose in slight thought of how to phrase what he was thinking. “What?”

            “Nothin’. That might be as good as the real thing, is all.”

            For the life of him, Nick would never understand what Ellis had seen in him this whole time. He’d seen him at his best, and he’d seen him at his worst, his worst being the face that showed itself the most. He was a damaged con man who had, until now, closed himself off from everyone around him. And yet this optimistic, nice, attractive kid had seen the best in him, and stuck by him through the thick and the thin, hell, even through the end of the world, and he was still here. No, he would never understand it, but he was incredibly thankful for it.

            “Pretty sure I agree.”

            Ellis nodded, and sat up, rubbing his eyes.

            “….. So what do we do if they don’t evacuate us?” he asked, and Nick propped himself up on an elbow.

            “I thought you were going to take it one step at a time.”

            “I try, but I can’t help but worry a lil bit,” Ellis admitted, sheepishly. Nick nodded, as it had crossed his mind too. He didn’t want to be caught unawares, and had tried mapping out what the next option would be. As much as he didn’t want to leave Coach and Rochelle, if New Orleans was another dead end, he was taking Daisy and Ellis and going somewhere else. Where, he wasn’t sure, but he wasn’t going on a wild goose chase for rescue.

            “Somewhere cold,” he thought out loud, and Ellis turned, nose wrinkled in a quizzical manner.

            “Huh?”

            “If New Orleans is like all the others, I’m taking Daisy and you and going North,” he said, matter of factly.

            “ ‘Taking me’?” Ellis asked, a little put off.

            “Well fine, you don’t HAVE to come, but I hope you would.”

            “Why would you go North? Why would that be any different?” Ellis asked, wrapping the blanket around himself and laying on his stomach.

            “Gets cold up North,” Nick responded, evenly. “These things aren’t DEAD, Ellis, they’re living, breathing. And I can’t imagine they fare well against the cold. I’d be willing to bet that come winter, like in Wisconsin or Canada or something, they all freeze to death.”

            “… Y’know, that makes some sense,” Ellis agreed. “Hm.”

            “So whaddaya say, El?” Nick asked. “If New Orleans is a bust, will you go North with me and Daisy?”

            “What about Coach and Rochelle?”

            “If they want to come to they can come too, but… I’m asking you,” Nick said, cautiously. It was silly to be cautious, it wasn’t like he was asking Ellis to marry him or anything like that. But in this brave new world, maybe travelling together was virtually the same thing. Ellis scratched his head, and put his hat back on, chewing on his lip.

            “I’ve never been above the Mason-Dixon line,” he confessed. “Hell, New Orleans is about as far as I’ve gotten, ever…. But…. Well shit, Nick, sure I’ll go with you guys. Of course I will.” He rolled back over, closing his eyes. “I’d probably go wherever you wanted me to go…. But does it have to be North?”

            “Don’t tell me you’re still sore about the Civil War.”

            “NO, it’s not that,” Ellis groused, thwacking Nick’s chest lightly. “…. It’s cold up North.”

            “So?”

            “So I HATE bein’ cold!” Nick guffawed, and clapped his hands together. “It ain’t funny, Nick! I really hate it!”

            “I’m sure we’ll find ways to keep warm, Overalls.”

            Ellis smirked, and flushed a little bit. “Fine, fine, whatever you say…. I guess I’ll just have to look at it like it’s an adventure. I’ve always wanted to travel, I guess. Just never had a chance.”

            “That’s a good way to look at it,” Nick said.

            “I’ll go on whatever adventure you want to take me on.”

            The con man flipped to his stomach, and just gazed at Ellis as he put an arm over his eyes, ready for sleep.

            “Come on, we can’t sleep up here,” Nick whispered, nudging him. “Might get ambushed in the night.”

            “Mmph. Fine.”

            They got dressed and re-entered the safe house, preparing to sleep like the rest of them. Though Ellis fell asleep quickly, Nick wasn’t able to unwind his thoughts enough. While he hoped that he was wrong about New Orleans, he began to mentally go through cold places in his head. He kept having this image of him, Daisy, and Ellis in parkas, tromping through snowy woods. None of them would be pleased with the freezing temperatures of wherever they ended up, but they’d have to get used to it.

            As he was nearly asleep, he was jolted awake by a bellowing noise in the distance. He sat up, wondering if he had imagined it, as no one else stirred from their slumber. But when the roar happened again, he nudged Ellis’s ankle. The younger man groaned, and turned over. “Ellis, get up.”

            “You’ve got to be kiddin’ me, it CAN’T be eight-.”

            “Shh, it isn’t, but get up.”

            Ellis sat up, rubbing his eyes. “Nick, can’t it wait-?” But he stopped complaining when he heard the noise too. “What the hell?”

            “I don’t know,” Nick stated, and climbed up the ladder to the roof again, Ellis close behind. They emerged into the night, trying to discern just where the sound was coming from. Ellis was starting to wish he’d picked up his gun, even if the noise was a long ways off, and Nick chewed on his lip, squinting, trying to see in the darkness. “…. I really hope that isn’t coming from down the road.”

            “Sounds like it might be,” Ellis replied, sadly. “Shit, shit, shit.”

            They both turned when the hatch to the roof opened, and Daisy popped out of it, wrapped in a blanket.

            “What are you doing up-?” Nick began, but she shushed him.

            “Did you hear that?” she asked, voice shaking with fear.

            “Yeah,” Ellis replied. She moved to the edge of the building, hugging the blanket around her, and the noise echoed through the air again, though further away this time. “Do you know what it is? Cuz me ‘n Nick are stumped.”

            She nodded, slowly, and swallowed. “It’s one of those Big Ones.”

            “Big Ones?” Ellis asked, and Nick spat out an expletive. “What are Big Ones?”

            “Really big zombies,” Nick replied, scratching his head. “Daisy saw one in the swamp.”

            “They’re called Tanks.”

            All three of them leaped at the sound of Coach, who had stuck his head out of the hatch as well. “One of the last broadcasts I heard said that there were sightings of very large infecteds, about the size of an armored car. They didn’t have any actual photos like they did of the other ones, and some were writing it off as hysteria. I was hoping they were right.”

            “They weren’t,” Daisy said, firmly. “I’ve seen one.”

            “I believe you, baby girl,” Coach answered, nodding as he climbed onto the roof. “I’ve felt the ground shaking, and I’ve seen the wreckage. The way I figure it, it’s only a matter of time before we have to face one.”

            “And what happens then?” Nick asked, dubiously.

            “We kill it,” Coach replied.

            “It’ll kill us first,” Daisy responded, coldly.

            “Child, you are your father’s daughter,” Coach replied, shaking his head. “We’ll make do. If we can get the drop on it, we might have a chance. We have guns, after all. If you shoot it enough it’ll die.”

            “Five people is better than one,” Ellis said, patting Daisy’s arm. “With five of us we could have a pretty good chance.”

            “I want Rochelle up here to weigh in,” Nick said, raising his hand.

            “Why?” Coach asked, skeptically.

            “Because SHE would be thinking realistically,” he answered, succinctly, and Ellis snorted and nudged him. “I’m just saying that you two have a pretty positive attitude about this when it’s called a TANK!”

            “You act like this surprises you,” Coach stated, and then laughed a bit. “Shoot Nick. We can change our outlooks as easily as you can change yours.”

            Nick sighed, and Ellis smiled at him, warily. Eternally optimistic. One of the things that Nick liked about him. He turned to Daisy. “Aces, do you remember how this thing moved when you saw one of them?”

            “… It’s pretty fast,” she answered.

            “How did it do when it chased you? Did it turn on a dime, or-?”

            “Um…” She scratched her head. “No, not really. It was really big and had a hard time following me when I turned in different directions. That’s probably why I got down the pipe without it catching me.”

            “Well….. Then I guess we’ll just hafta confuse it,” Ellis said, scratching his neck. “Shouldn’t be too hard. They ain’t the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree, after all.”

            “So we’re actually going to do this?” Nick asked, voice firm. “We’re going to try to take this thing on?”

            “We may not have to,” Coach reminded him. “We haven’t seen one of these things yet, who knows if we’ll see one before New Orleans. But if we do… Yeah. We’re taking it on.”

            “Aw hell yeah,” Ellis said, and fist bumped with Daisy, who wasn’t as excited as he was. But she acquiesced, and exchanged glances with Nick. “So who wants to tell Rochelle?”

            “Let her sleep,” Coach stated.

            “She’ll be pissed she missed the meeting,” Ellis responded.

            “I think she’ll be more pissed if we wake her up,” Nick said, and ruffled Daisy’s hair. She snorted, but smiled. “Okay. We should probably sleep. We might make it to New Orleans tomorrow.”

            “And then we’re gettin’ the hell outta here,” Coach stated, being the first to crawl down the ladder.

            Daisy looked after him, and then turned back to Nick and Ellis. “This is gonna suck.”

            “Probably,” Nick agreed. “Good luck sleeping tonight.”

            “I’m gonna sleep like a log, no doubt in my mind,” Ellis stated, and pat Nick’s arm. Nick placed a hand on his back, and smirked.

            “You always do,” he replied.

            “That’s true,” the mechanic agreed. “I can sleep through pretty much anything. Did I ever tell ya about the time me and my buddy Keith were campin’ out in the middle of a REALLY bad thunderstorm? Keith says that I slept through him gettin’ hit by lightnin’, but I’m not too sure he actually DID get hit by lightnin’ because he looked just fine to me the next day, though he was a little twitchy I guess. It coulda been that he was just standin’ NEXT to a lightnin’ strike, cuz I looked it up-?”

            “Great story, Overalls,” Nick said, cutting him off and guiding him towards the ladder.

            “You probably sleep well because you wear yourself out talking,” Daisy suggested, following them down. Ellis was going to open his mouth in response, but then just closed it instead. “…. I was just joking, Ellis.”

            “Yeah…. Yeah, I know,” Ellis replied, but began to feel a bit self conscious. She smiled at him kindly, and went back to her corner to try to fall back asleep, though she was a ball of nerves, just like the rest of them.

            “….. Do you think I talk too much?” Ellis whispered as Nick wrapped his arms around him while they lay down for the night. Nick grinned to himself, and smelled the mechanic’s hair.

            “Why?”

            “Cuz I’m gettin’ the distinct impression that people here think I talk too much,” Ellis replied, fairly glumly.

            Well of course Nick thought that Ellis talked too much. Because, after all, he DID talk too much. But instead of saying that, he just closed his eyes, and held him tighter.

            “Nope. You don’t.”

            “Okay, good. Cuz my Mom always used to say that I could flap my gums ‘til the cows came home, but I never did really understand that sayin’. I mean, what time do cows come home anyway? An’ wouldn’t it be different from farm to far-.”

            “Go to sleep, El.”

            “’Kay.”


	17. Chapter 17

“I’m still not talking to you,” Rochelle stated, and Coach sighed in exasperation.

            “We thought you’d want to sleep!”

            “I like sleep but I like knowing what the plan is better!”

            “Ro, we told you the plan,” Ellis said.

            “Well I would have liked to have had SOME say in this plan,” she muttered, clutching her gun to her chest. “What if this Thing just kills all of us? Just picks us up and breaks us one by one?”

            “We have no choice but to go forward, so all we can do is pray that we’re either prepared, or pray that we don’t even see it,” Coach explained, for what felt like the tenth time.

            Nick smoked a cigarette as he walked. Yeah, he was nervous, but there wasn’t much he could do about this situation, so he decided to try and act cool and collected. At least for Daisy’s and Ellis’ sake. And nothing calmed him down like a cigarette. Well, maybe sex, but there was a time and place for everything.  He was still getting used to his tire iron, but he was getting plenty of practice in, as the closer they got to the city limits the more infected popped up.

            “The sign up there is starting to show exits for New Orleans,” Daisy said, pointing, and Ellis whooped a bit, pumping his fist in the air.

            “AwRIGHT! We’ve made it!” he cheered.

            “Now don’t get too excited, Ellis, we still have to get to the Bridge,” Coach reminded him, though he was starting to smile too. “AND we have to figure out which bridge it is.”

            “That’s fine, I’m just happy we’re almost to where we need to be!” Ellis exclaimed, thudding Nick on the back. The older man jostled a bit, but was used to being an object of roughhousing when the hick was excited about something. “Hell yeah! I wonder if Keith is at the EC.”

            “Oh wouldn’t that be a treat?” Nick asked, derision in full force, and Ellis turned his chin up a bit and crossed his arms. To him it WOULD be a treat. “Relax, Overalls. If he made it this far he probably beat us by a long shot and already got evacuated.”

            “That’s true,” Ellis jabbered, grinning again. “He was probably the first one running for the plane or chopper or whatever. I bet that he has some pretty good stories! I just hope that he didn’t get his fingers cut off by the helicopter blades, he’s already missin’ a coupla digits.”

            “Seriously?” Daisy asked, voice amused and impressed at once.

            “Well, maybe I’m exaggeratin’ a little bit,” he admitted. “But he has had a coupla fingers reattached a few times…. Ain’t you sick of my Keith stories?”

            “No,” she replied.

            “Give it time,” Rochelle smiled, and winked at Ellis.

            “Ho ho ho, Rochelle,” he muttered. He was about to try to think of a snappy comeback, but noticed that she and Coach had paused. “What’s wron-?” He trailed off, noticing what their eyes had stopped on.

            The New Orleans skyline was finally visible, but it wasn’t how he remembered it. Dark, billowing clouds of smoke were rising from the buildings, casting a dark pall in the atmosphere. He’d noticed the smoke earlier, but somehow hadn’t connected that it could have been coming from the Big Easy. He ran a hand down his face, no longer able to hide his disappointment. It was times like this he saw the benefit of being a pessimist, because it managed your expectations.

            Nick stopped next to him, and furrowed his brow. “So. Ready to head North yet?”

            Before Ellis could answer, a sonic boom smashed through the sky, making all of them cover their ears. A military jet soared overhead, going right for the city, and Ellis’ heart leapt with excitement.

            “No no, look! They’re still here!” Coach exclaimed. “Let’s pick up the pace, people! I think we’ve finally found our ticket out of this pop stand! When we get into the city we should try to stock up, we may have a few more speed bumps ahead of us.”

            “Yeah, no shit,” Nick stated, though he too was starting to feel a bit optimistic, seeing another human presence among the ruins.  “What bridge are we going to?”

            “… Good question,” Rochelle murmured. “So… Eenie meenie miney moe?”

            “We’ll look for signs in the city, right now we just have to get there,” Coach stated. “Come on. Double time, people.”

            Once they got off 90, the true desolation of the city became much more evident. Bodies littered the streets, garbage and trash were in piles, and the stench was almost too much to bear. Whenever they went to a large city the smell was always overwhelming, but the combination of the river, the trash, and the dead made this an exceptionally bad place to be.

            “I wish I had nose plugs,” Daisy griped, and the others all muttered their agreement. “So what do we need to find?”

            “Weapons,” Coach replied. “Weapons of any kind. We still haven’t seen that Tank and it’s making me nervous.”

            “I’m more on the relieved side of things,” Rochelle admitted.

            “You can’t get too comfortable, sister, because that’s when they get you,” Coach said, sternly.

            “Yep, overconfidence,” Ellis agreed. “It’s like when Keith-.”

            “We ain’t got time for this, Ellis.” Coach said.

            “Okay….. Hey, I have an idea! Y’know how we found all those Molotovs, and they worked pretty well?”

            “Yeah?” Nick said, trying to breathe through his mouth, but realizing that meant he could taste the stench, so he stopped.

            “Well, all we gotta do is find a bar or somethin’, and we can make our OWN Molotovs,” he continued. “It’s real easy. Keith taught me how.”

            “I’m not even going to ask why,” Rochelle tisked, shaking her head in disapproval. “But yeah, that’s a good idea, sweetie. Now we just have to find a bar.”

            Nick smirked. “It’s New Orleans. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

            And it wasn’t. They stumbled upon a place called The Voodoo Priestess, and looking through the window Ellis could tell that there were lots of liquor bottles lined up on the wall. “Oh yeah, this’s gonna be perfect.”

            “Alright. I’ll guard this door,” Coach offered. “If the four of you want to go inside and make the Molotovs, I can keep y’all safe.”

            “Are you sure?” Rochelle asked, a bit concerned to leave him alone. “What if the Tank-?”

            “I’ll give a holler, don’t worry about me,” Coach said, smiling at her cheerily. “You do the same if you need help inside. We need as many bombs as we can get.”

            “Sounds good,” Nick agreed, and opened the door, wasting no time. Coach could take care of himself, that was very true, and the rest of the survivors followed him inside.

            “Now here’s what I’m thinkin’,” Ellis said, going to the bar and hopping over it. “Me and Nick can make fire bottles in here, and you guys find the storage room and make them in there. There’ll be a lot more bottles and rags in the back.”

            “Aye aye,” Daisy smiled, and Rochelle nodded.

            “I was getting sick of you guys, I could go for a little girl time,” Rochelle said, winking at Daisy, who snickered and nodded.

            “It will be just like SEX AND THE CITY,” she deadpanned.

            “Is that the only frame of reference you two have when it comes to female culture?” Rochelle asked the teenager and the con man, and was answered with identical shrugs.

            Nick and Ellis both sat on the bar, making Molotov after Molotov.

            “Y’ever made fire bottles before?” Ellis asked, legs dangling from the bar, and Nick shook his head. “Aw, now I woulda thought you had, what with knowin’ how to hotwire a car and where find the illegal weapons at a gun shop.”

            “Sorry to disappoint,” Nick replied, smiling slightly. “I was just kind of a thug when I needed to be, not a tactical super villain.”

            “Well that’s good to hear,” Ellis acknowledged. “Can you believe it? I think we may actually get out of this.”

            “I’ve heard that before.”

            “You’re so negative,” Ellis said, and grinned at him, amused. “Well I know what I’M gonna do when we get evacuated. Take a shower.”

            “The first thing I’m going to do is write a strongly worded letter to CEDA,” the con man replied. “ ‘Dear Fuckers: Way to drop the ball on this one. I’m suing. Signed, Nick.”

            “Well, I’ll co-sign that, but I also wanna send ‘em somethin’ nice.”

            “Psh, why would you want to send them something nice?”

            “Well, I figure that I oughta send ‘em a fruit basket or somethin’, cuz if they hadn’t fucked up the evacuations, well….” He trailed off, timidly, and rolled his eyes, finding what he was thinking a bit sappy. “Cuz if they hadn’t fucked that up WE probably never woulda met up again….. Damn that sounds real stupid.” Nick set down another Molotov, and just grinned. “What? Are you gonna give me shit?”

            “No, just….. Hold on,” Nick said, and hopped off the counter, walking in front of where his lover was seated. He set his hands on Ellis’ knees, moving so he was inches from the mechanic’s face.

            “….. Oh-kay, what’s this about?” Ellis asked, a little nervously, not knowing just what the older man was planning but knowing it was probably inappropriate. Nick shrugged, and let his hand slither up Ellis’ back and come to a rest on the back of his head. “Nick, c’mon, we ain’t got time for this.”

            “We may not have time to wait either,” Nick replied, leaning in and starting to kiss Ellis’ neck. The mechanic jumped a bit, undeniably aroused but nervous and fairly irritated. WHERE was this side of Nick when they weren’t under so much pressure? Why couldn’t he have done this in the woods that second night, or on the way to Brunswick?

            “Come on, knock it off!” Ellis hissed, though he didn’t push Nick away or anything. “Any of them could walk in at ANY moment! Coach said that he’d come in if we just hollered-.”

            “So don’t holler, Overalls,” Nick growled, pulling Ellis to him so their bodies were touching, and his lips moved to Ellis’. Ellis reciprocated, snagging the white jacket in his hands to pull his lover closer, but then shoved him off, trying SO hard to be serious.

            “You’re really pushin’ it, Nick.”

            “Oh?”

            “Yes, you are!” the mechanic hissed, swatting a hand away from his thigh. “And it’s gonna bite us on the ass!”

            “Is that what you want?” Nick asked, egging him on, and Ellis snorted and jumped off the counter. “Oh come on, you’re the one who sweet talked ME. What happened to that sense of adventure you were talking about last night?”

            “I still have it,” Ellis replied, insistently. “What, you think callin’ me chicken is gonna get you what you want? Well I have news for you: it ain’t.”

            “Never thought it would,” Nick said, and touched his arm, moving his hand up and down it. “I figured that good old fashioned seduction might though.” He moved a hand down the front of the younger man’s shirt, and stopped it on the knot, tugging on it teasingly.

            “You’re crazy,” Ellis sneered, glancing towards the steps. “Why would I want to do somethin’ like this when anyone could catch us? Not just anyone, your DAUGHTER could catch us, Nick, did you ever think about that?”

            Nick sighed, and nodded. “Yeah, I’ve thought about that… But look kid… I’m just not sure that we’re going to have another chance to do this, and…” He trailed off, embarrassed to admit that he was… well, a little scared.

            “…. Dammit Nick.”

            Nick grinned that wolf like smile that Ellis fell for so long ago, and he knew he’d won.

            “I know you too well, Overalls,” he said, and began to lean in again, but Ellis held up a hand between their lips.

            “JUST… just kissing though,” he stated, flatly. “We’ll have plenty of time for the other stuff later.”

            “Fine.” He might be able to convince him for more if he played his cards right.

            Ellis pulled Nick into him, grazing his chin with his lips as he went for his neck, ready to brand him again, and the con man ground his hips into the mechanic’s, eliciting a small groan in response. True, Nick was a little apprehensive that some infected, or worse, Daisy, would walk in and catch them in the act, but that small trepidation just made it that much more thrilling. He’d always liked the danger that went along with this sort of thing. As they rubbed against each other, Nick moving his hand under Ellis’ shirt and Ellis doing the same under the white (now grayish) coat, the con man stumbled forward, sending the younger man into the jukebox on the wall. It didn’t matter at first, and they continued to grope and fumble with each other’s limbs.

            But there was a funny thing about that jukebox. See, the night before The Infection completely overtook New Orleans, one Dominique VanSloot had gone to the machine with the intention of playing some music she could dance to. But as soon as she inserted the quarters, she was tackled to the ground by an infected who stumbled into the bar, and had her face promptly torn off before her body was dragged into the street.

            As Nick was about to sink to his knees and work his magic, they both leapt when the sound system burst forth, playing ‘Dancing Queen’ by ABBA.

            “What the FUCK?!” Nick exclaimed, and Ellis rotated around, retying his coveralls (how had they come undone!?) and looking at the jukebox, abject horror crossing his face. “What did you do?!”

            “ME?! You’re the one who slammed me into the goddamn jukebox!”

            “Well turn it off!”

            “It’s a jukebox, it don’t ‘turn off’!”

            “SO UNPLUG IT!”

            “THE WIRIN’ IS IN THE WALL!”

            Before Nick could try to suggest some other futile option, they heard the all too well known keening of an oncoming horde.

            “What the HELL is going on in here?!” Coach shouted, sticking his head in the bar, angrily. “Turn that fool music off!”

            “We can’t!” Ellis exclaimed, as Rochelle and Daisy rushed up the stairs, carrying multiple Molotovs in their arms.

            “How did that jukebox get turned on?” Rochelle asked, pulling out her gun.

            “…… I tripped into it,” Nick lied, and while Coach seemed satisfied with the answer, Rochelle arched an eyebrow at him.

            “Oh really?” she asked, eyes landing on the brand new hickey on his neck.

“Oh ew,” Daisy muttered, also noticing the splotch. He flipped his collar up, smoothly, and shrugged.

            “I’m a klutz.”

            “Just shut up and get ready,” Coach scolded. “There’s a lot of them coming. Apparently zombies like ABBA.”

            “Dammit I wish I had my ax,” Nick muttered.

            Coach stood by the door with his gun, while Rochelle and Ellis covered the windows. Daisy stood on the bar, and Nick lit up a cigarette in the middle of the room. Soon the horde was upon them, screaming and slobbering.

            “Oh shit, a Spitter,” Rochelle groaned, ducking and pulling Ellis down just as the green acid flew from the disgusting creatures mouth. It landed on the bar, and Daisy jumped further down the wood before it could soak into her clothes and burn her. Nick shot the offending zombie with his Glock.

            As Ellis was on the floor he shot the knees out of a few zombies, giving Rochelle the ability to crush their skulls with the butt of her rifle. “Hell yeah, TEAM WORK!”

            “Coach, look out!” Daisy yelled, and Coach turned to his left just in time to see a Charger barreling towards him.

            “Oh HELL no!” he bellowed, unloading his bullets into it. The zombie barely slowed down, but missed him by a hair, giving Coach the time to shoot it one more time, proving to be it’s undoing. “Too close.”

            Nick swung his tire iron at a few zombies, breaking facial bones and splattering brains across the floor, and only turned when Daisy whistled. She held up an ax, grinning.

            “Look what I found under the bar!” she cheered, and tossed it to him. He caught it with his free hand and threw the tire iron down, jovially.

            “Best gift ever, Aces!” he crowed, cutting down a group as Ellis threw a lit Molotov out the windows, creating a fire barrier on the outside.

            An infected woman crawled up onto the bar with Daisy, and she used the claw of the hammer to impale her under the chin, kicking her in the chest so the metal cut through skin and snapped bone. “Oh, that was grosser than I thought it would be,” she mumbled, before bringing it down on the top of the woman’s head.

            “Move away from the windows, the fire’s spreadin’!” Ellis called, as he and Rochelle retreated towards the barstools. Nick stuck the barrel of his Glock in the mouth of a crawling man and pulled the trigger effortlessly, brain matter and skull splashing out the back of it’s head, and grimaced at the smell of the burning flesh that had began to waft in through the windows.

            “Make for the door before this place sets ablaze!” Coach called, and the others nodded, rushing out of the bar.

            The fire seemed to be the final nail in the horde’s coffin, as once the flames died down there were only two or three zombies left, easily picked off by the survivors.

            “Everyone okay?” Coach asked, as they gathered their bearings and examined themselves. “Did any of that Spitter shit get on you, Daisy?”

            “No.”

            “Nick?”

            “No, I’m good.”

            “How many of these Molotovs made it out?” Coach asked.

            “I got two,” Ellis replied. “How about the rest of you?”

            “Yeah, two,” Daisy agreed, and the others had the same.

            “Guess I shouldn’ta thrown that Molotov, huh?” Ellis asked, suddenly realizing that the entire rest of their bounty was in the burning bar. “Dammit. This was just one big waste of time, wasn’t it?”

            “No,” Daisy stated. “We all have a couple. That’s not a waste of time at all.”

            “….. Okay, what bridge are we going to?” Rochelle asked, wearily, wiping the blood off her face. “Coach, were there any signs out there? Saying where the center is?”

            “No…. But I have a pretty good feeling that it’s gonna be the Clairborne Avenue Bridge,” Coach answered, bending over a bit to catch his breath.

            “What makes you so sure?” Nick asked, warily, as he scratched Ellis’ back to try and reassure him further.

            “Because from outside, where I was standing? There was a lot of graffiti saying that both the Green and the Causeway was bombed by the military,” Coach stated.

            “…. Bombed?” Ellis asked, eyebrows raising.

            “So the writing on the walls said.”

            “Why would the military bomb a bridge?” Daisy asked, and Rochelle snorted.

            “So the disease couldn’t spread across it,” she said. “But I have a feeling it found a way anyhow. Let’s just hope that when Crawdad said that they were stopping evacs after four days, he meant four days.”

            “I make a point to never trust any info the Government gives anyone ever,” Nick muttered, and was the first to march down the street.

            “…. So who does he think killed JFK?” Coach asked, indignantly.

            “The FBI,” Daisy answered, shrugging.

            “Oh hell no, it was th’ Mafia,” Ellis argued, racing to catch up with the con man. “Hey Nick wait up!” Nick paused, and gave Ellis a smug smirk as he came up to him. Ellis shook his head, glowering, which caused Nick to laugh. “It’s not funny.”

            “It’s KIND OF funny,” he replied, winking at him.

            “NO, it’s not funny,” Ellis asserted, though he was starting to grin too. “Like I said before. You drive me crazy.”

            “Tell you what. I’ll owe you that blow job when we get to wherever it is we’re going.”

            “Is THAT why my coveralls were untied?!” Ellis demanded, perfectly scandalized. “I told ya, just-!”

            “Like you would have turned it down,” Nick stated, self-importantly. Ellis pursed his lips in irritation, and Nick playfully shoved his shoulder. “Like I said, I’ll owe ya one.”

            “… Yeah, alright.”

            They followed signs for the Bridge, and it was hard to deny that they were all getting rather excited. The fact that they kept seeing military jets and helicopters patrolling the city skies made them even more enthusiastic, and they all tried to get their attention by yelling and waving their arms, even though they knew it was practically futile.

            “I wish we had some kinda flare gun or somethin’,” Ellis muttered, arms waving slowly and finally dropping to his sides.  “It would be pretty kick ass against them zombies too, thinkin’ about it.”

            “When we get to the Bridge there will be people there waiting for us, don’t worry,” Coach said, firmly, trying to convince himself of it too.

            Rochelle was about to answer, when a large explosion made all of them cry out as the ground shook.

            “What the Hell was that?!” she yelled instead, and the others all looked around, looking for the source.

            When they realized it had come from the plane overhead, their stomachs collectively plunged. Coach put a hand to his head, jaw dropped, and Ellis let out a low whistle.

            “They’re fucking bombing the city,” Nick murmured, protectively putting an arm around his daughter. “Jesus Christ, they’re going to level this place.”

            “Why would they do that?” Ellis asked, suddenly pained, thinking that maybe they were doing the same back home in Savannah. “How could they just destroy an entire city?”

            “Easier to eradicate The Infection that way,” Rochelle said, solemnly.

            “But what about survivors?” Ellis asked, voice thick, like he was about to start crying.

            “I’m starting to think that there aren’t enough to justify keeping the cities standing, Ellis,” Coach answered, softly.

            Nick was going to let loose a string of swears, but the ground began to rumble again. “Oh, nice they aren’t wasting any time.” But as it shook, he realized that Daisy was suddenly gripping his coat, trembling violently, and he looked to see where she was staring, what had her so spooked.

            In the distance he saw a large silhouette, the sun behind it casting a menacing light upon it. It bellowed into the sky, lifting up a large piece of asphalt above it’s head. Oh, that must be a Tank, he thought.

            “Jesus, Mary, an’ Joseph,” Ellis murmured, gripping his gun tightly, as the giant slab of torn up road was launched at them. They all scattered from the debris, and the Tank bellowed again, beginning it’s charge.

            “Shoot it!” Rochelle screamed, aiming her gun, and the others followed suit, shuffling for their weapons and just shooting over and over and over. And yet it didn’t even slow down, as if impervious to the spray of bullets it was taking. It seemed that it just made it more livid, as it knocked cars out of the way just to get to them. Throwing them like empty boxes, as if it was merely an afterthought. To Nick the creature’s inability to make sharp turns seemed insignificant when he saw just how quickly it was stampeding.

            Ellis ran backwards, trying to aim and reload at the same time, the sinking realization occurring to him that it was headed right for HIM. “Sonuvabitch.”

            Nick forced Daisy to stay a few steps behind him and to the side as she fired her gun, and he was so focused on actually hitting the Tank it wasn’t until he saw Ellis stumble over the cuffs of his pants that he realized just what danger the mechanic was in. “ELLIS, FOR FUCK’S SAKE-!”

            Before he could finish what he was yelling, the Tank had smacked Ellis in the side, sending the younger man flying off  and skidding as he landed. Nick shouted out, and he began to run towards his lover, despite Daisy’s cries of protest. But he couldn’t get too far, as the Tank had decided to set its sights on him now. As it lumbered towards him, he yelled while shooting, hoping that when all was said and done that either a) they would have a dead Tank at their feet, or b) this would all be a terrible dream, that he would wake up in his hotel room in Savannah and it would just have been in his head.

            “Nick, duck!” Rochelle yelled, and he did so, just in time for a Molotov to hit the large zombie in the chest. He fell on his back, and propelled himself backwards as it still moved forward, growling and swiping for him. Just as he was about to raise his ax as a final desperate line of defense, Rochelle delivered one more shot from her gun, which hit the Tank right between the eyes. And the zombie seemed to have had enough, as it drooped to it’s knees, and fell forward, right at Nick’s feet. He could smell the burning flesh, and he shakily stood up, Coach helping him to his feet. Once he was standing, he bolted over to where Ellis had fallen. Though it felt like he couldn’t move fast enough, like he was running through syrup.

            He skidded to a halt next to his lover, and dropped down on his knees, grabbing the mechanic’s arms and pulling him up to get a good look at him. “Ellis? Ellis, come on, kid, we’ve come this far, don’t give up now.” Nick examined him for serious injuries; Ellis’ lip and forehead were bleeding, and his eyes were closed. His left arm was like ground hamburger, road rash setting in quickly, and Nick shook his head, refusing to believe that it was going to end like this. “El, for God’s sake, don’t do this to me. PLEASE don’t do this to me. I’m not ready for you to leave me yet!”

            If I’ve lost him I don’t even know what I’ll do, Nick thought frantically, his mind once more going to those dark places he’d frequented lately.

            “Dad, is he-?” Daisy asked, a trembling to her voice, and he shook his head violently, his motion shutting her up. How could she even suggest such a thing? Didn’t she know that if the kid was dead that it would absolutely cripple him, like Brunswick had? Didn’t she know that he would probably start bawling and be unable to stop until someone MADE him stop? That he would slide back into that dark place that he hated but knew so well? He pulled Ellis’ chest to his ear, holding his breath, hoping that he would hear something.

            Which he did. The kid’s heart was beating, and it wasn’t even faintly.

            Ellis stirred, and winced, and Nick’s face broke into a cautious smile as he pulled away, nodding. “Yeah, that’s right, come on, kid. Come on back.”

            The wind had been knocked out of him and he hadn’t been able to move from the pain, stunned into a stupor, but as soon as Ellis felt Nick’s hands on him he needed to see the older man, and forced himself out of his daze, albeit slowly. When he opened his eyes he saw Nick, and only Nick. True, the others were there too, all looking concerned and worried, and relieved when he responded, but he could only focus on the con man and his green eyes, eyes that looked as if they were about to spill over.

            “That sucked,” he wheezed, and Nick began to chuckle madly, in utter disbelief.

            “Sweetie, you’ve GOT to have nine lives!” Rochelle exclaimed, leaning down to look him over and bandage his cut forehead as Daisy worked on his arm. “I thought it killed you for sure!”

            “Naw, it grazed me, it jus’ grazed me,” Ellis responded, wondering what it would feel like if it had actually full on hit him, like it wanted to. He’d probably have bones protruding from his chest, or worse, he’d probably be dead. “It probably looked worse than it actually was. Ain’t a big thing. I’ll be okay.”

            “Your arm looks like it really hurts,” Daisy said, picking grit and dirt from the wound, and Ellis shrugged, though he was wincing in pain as well. His eyes followed the con man, who had turned his back and leaned forward, as if catching his breath.

            “Sure it hurts, but that’s what pain pills are for, right?” he asked, and she nodded, bandaging the raw scrape.

            “Well, the good news is we know we can kill those things,” Coach stated, though there was little mirth in his tone. “If we run into any others, we’ll have to remember that Molotovs really messed it up.” Ellis was barely listening, more concerned about how Nick looked like he was about to pass out.

            “Nick, are you okay?” he called, and the con man nodded, holding out a hand at him.

            “Yeah, I’m fine,” he muttered back.

            “I bandaged it as much as I could,” Daisy said, helping the mechanic stand. “If we find a med kit-.”

            “Shouldn’t need one, Daze, we’re getting’ outta here, remember?” he asked, optimistically, and Rochelle pulled him into an all encompassing hug, relieved that he was still with them and a goddamn ray of sunshine.

            “Can you walk?” she asked, and Ellis nodded, though it obviously hurt somewhat to do so.

            “Aw hell, I’ve seen worse than this,” he said to all of them, though it was more for Nick’s benefit. He wondered why the con man wasn’t saying much of anything, or even touching him. It wasn’t like he was going to break in two. He knew that if the roles were switched he would be all over Nick, hugging him, kissing him, refusing to let go.

            “Child, if that’s true I don’t even want to KNOW what that Keith fella put you up to,” Coach said, shaking his head, and looked at the dead Tank. “Lord have mercy. The faster we get out of here the better. I’m sick of this city already.”

            Another bomb dropped, rattling the ground, and it prompted them to continue on.

            “Are you sure you’re okay, Ellis?” Daisy asked, walking alongside him, slowly to match his limping gait.

            “Sure Daisy, it just hurts is all,” he replied. “Probably gonna have a nasty scar, one that’d put Keith to shame. I can’t wait to show him this one.”

            “I’m sure he’ll be jealous,” she giggled, and looked at her Dad, who had a stern and determined look on his face. “… I’m going to go ask Rochelle if she wants any help doing…. something, I’ll see you in a bit.” She rushed up ahead, leaving Ellis and Nick to themselves as they walked.

            Ellis shoved his hands in his pockets, not sure if he should say anything or not, and he gazed at Nick, eyebrows raised light heartedly. “…. What’s…. uh, what’s on your mind?” Nick shook his head, and putting a balled up fist to his brow, setting his jaw in place. He continued to shake his head a few more times, and breathed in through his nose. “…. You don’t have to talk about it, if ya don’t want to.” Nick nodded, trying to push down all his emotions, and Ellis simply slipped his hand in the con man’s, ignoring the blood that was caking to his palm. They’d all learned to ignore it.

            “….. I’m okay, Nick,” he continued, squeezing his hand. “Sorry if I scared ya.”

            Nick stopped walking, letting his arm extend as Ellis continued, and tugged on him to stop as well. The younger man paused, quizzically, and tilted his head to the side as he turned around. Even though both losses were temporary, and even though both of them were still with him, Nick knew that Ellis, like Daisy, could be taken away at any moment.  The Tank was just a reminder of this. But at the same time, he didn’t regret being attached to him. If anything, he savored him. Couldn’t imagine life without him. NEEDED him. So he stared at Ellis, mouth opening a bit, and exhaled slowly. Now or never.

            “….. I love you, El.”

            Ellis blinked, surprised that such an admission had come from his lover. How far they had come from that night at The Roost. Even before the world ended he had been skeptical that he’d ever find someone else to share these feelings with, and had he been told as he left the hotel that the guy he had just slept with was going to be the great love of his life, he would have laughed out loud, called that person crazy. And yet here he was, happiness bursting from him as he looked into Nick’s pale green eyes, eyes he had lost himself in many times on their journey. So he began to grin, from ear to ear.

            “Yeah?”

            “Yeah.”

            The mechanic stepped closer, and lay a hand on Nick’s arm. “… Well, I love you too, so…. I guess it’s all good.”

            “Yeah. Yeah, it’s all good.”

            Daisy slowed and turned around to make sure that her Dad hadn’t blown any gaskets, and smiled happily when she saw that he was merely hugging Ellis, burying his face in the mechanic’s hair, the pickup hat tossed to the side of the street. And it was obvious that Ellis was clinging to him just as hard, muttering something in his lover’s ear, something that was only for the two of them. She leisurely trotted over, as another jet flew above them ominously, and slowed to a stop a couple of feet away. Nick glanced her way, and held out an arm in invitation. She nodded, and joined the embrace, Nick patting her head as she did so.

             The ground seized with explosions again, but for that moment the three of them knew that even if New Orleans was razed, even if they weren’t rescued, they were pushing on together. He hoped that Coach and Rochelle would come with them, but he couldn’t force it, as much as it admittedly saddened him. But even if they made the choice to go in separate directions, he would be okay so long as he had Daisy and Ellis. He’d finally found his cohesive family unit, and it may not have been what his father in law had in mind, but it was still the best thing Nick had ever achieved in his life.


	18. Chapter 18

“There it is,” Coach stated, pointing towards a large bridge in the distance. “The Clairborne Avenue Bridge. I don’t see any ECs on this side, but I bet it’s in St. Bernard’s Parish. The light at the end of this tunnel is right over there, y’all.”

            “I don’t see any smoke coming from it either, they might still be evacuating,” Daisy stated.

            “We can only hope,” Coach said, wiping his brow.

            Rochelle gazed through her sniper scope, and shook her head. “The entire road looks torn up. I think they’ve been doing something to it.”

            “Fuckers,” Nick grumbled, shaking his head. “Four days my ass, Crawdad.”

            “And it gets worse,” she continued, voice tired. “There are a lot of fucking infected on it. Like they’ve figured out that the Bridge is an abattoir when survivors do show up. We may as well put a bunch of targets on our backs.”

            “Well it’s still standing as if right now, there have to be some people on this side looking for survivors,” Coach insisted. “There’s probably a safe room they’re hunkered down in. Come on, let’s get a move on.”

            Ellis rolled his shoulders, watching as another plane flew over the city. “I hope they don’t bomb it while we’re on it.”

            “Hey, you’re supposed to be the optimistic one,” Rochelle said.

            “Yeah well….”

            As they got closer, the path to the bridge became more and more visible. Rochelle was right: there were lots and lots of infected on it. Daisy shook her head, biting her lip. “How are we going to get through all those things?”

            “That’s what weapons are for,” Nick replied, choking up on his ax. Ellis raised his gun at an approaching infected, and pulled the trigger. The bullet split through it’s leg, and it fell to the ground, bleeding out on the asphalt. Nick pat him on the back, and Ellis smiled his way. Of course, it was a nervous smile. All of them were starting to feel that familiar uneasiness. They had all been tricked into escape so many times, after all. It was obvious that Ellis wasn’t so sure what to think anymore. Nick squeezed his shoulder. “Hey Overalls. We can always get that cabin in Wisconsin.”

            “…. Or a farm in Minnesota,” the younger man stated, dryly, and Nick nodded.

            “Or a shack in Alaska,” Daisy piped in, aiming her gun at another infected and hopping back as she fired it.

            “Oh yes! One last safe room!” Coach called back to them, and they all picked up the pace.

            The safe room was small and cramped, but appeared to have been a bunker of sorts, possibly for the military that had designated this place an Evac Center. Nick snorted when they found no ammunition piles, and decided that he was just going to have to break in his ax as they crossed the lift bridge towards their possible salvation. Ellis lifted up his shirt to examine his newest wounds that had been left undressed, and hissed a bit when he saw how raw his skin looked where it hit the pavement.

            “Kee-riste,” he mumbled, and bandaged himself up, shaking his head. “Ro, how’s your knee feelin’?”

            “Still pretty good, sweetie,” she replied, tightening the tape around it. “Good thing we haven’t had to do much running. I think it’ll be okay for one quick sprint.”

            “No radios in here,” Coach said, shaking his head. “I was hoping we could try to reach Crawdad again, see if anything has changed since we spoke to him.”

            “You mean besides the fact they’re bombing the city?” Nick asked, examining Daisy’s shoulder.

            “Well, we already know that, don’t we?” Coach asked, grumpily. “How many Molotovs do we still have left? I have two.”

            “I got one,” Ellis replied as he tore some bandage with his teeth, and Rochelle nodded in agreement.

            “One,” Daisy said, nodding, and Nick held up two fingers.

            “If we can burn off some of the infected it may help,” Coach said. “Since I have two and since Nick has two, I think we should be in the front and back. Sort of create a  barrier behind us and smoke the ones in front of us.”

            “Yeah, that makes sense,” Rochelle said as Daisy moved to Ellis to help him tape up his side. “I can be up front shooting too.”

            “Sister, you don’t have to-.”

            “Coach, I’m probably the best shot here and you know it,” she stated, firmly. “I’m going to be up front, got it?”

            “… Yeah, I got it,” Coach said, shaking his head and smiling. “It’s not a very long bridge, but it will probably feel like the longest run of all our lives… I hope that you all will indulge me with a prayer.”

            Nick squirmed a bit, not particularly comfortable with that idea, but if that’s what Coach wanted to do, he was going to let him. And being the only person there who didn’t have some sort of faith in a higher power, he would be alone in his protestations. So he just joined the circle and took Daisy’s and Ellis’ hands.

            While Coach said a prayer, Nick began to think about how to best make sure that both Ellis and Daisy got out of this. As his mind wandered, he remembered the CEDA injections that they had found, those that Ellis had hidden in his bag. Well, if they had to run, those would definitely give an extra kick. He glanced at both Daisy and Ellis, and he knew what he was going to ask of them. Perhaps they would protest, but he was going to ask it of them anyway, insist it of them if he had to.

            Coach and Rochelle went out first, but Nick held Ellis and Daisy back. “Hold on you guys.”

            “What is it, Nick?” Ellis asked, and Daisy raised her eyebrows at him. He reached into Ellis’ bag and removed the shots, holding them up. “Oh, those things.”

            “It’s time for you two to use them,” Nick said, matter of factly.

            “I don’t need one of those, Dad, you should use it,” Daisy said.

            “You’re going to use it, Aces, and so are you, Ellis,” Nick said. Ellis didn’t really like that idea. After all, Nick wasn’t geriatric by any means, but he was older and not as athletic as the mechanic. If anyone should have that boost, it was him.

            “I don’t need it-.”

            “El, please,” Nick said, not angrily, but persistently. “I’m heading up the back, I don’t need it. You two are going to be in the middle and I want you guys to keep going. No matter what.”

            “…. Dad, what about-?”

            “Don’t worry about me, I’ll have the easy job of picking off the stragglers,” he said, patting her arm reassuringly. “I want you two to do one more thing for me.”

            “…. What?” Ellis asked, skeptically. He didn’t like how final Nick was making this all sound.

            “I want you two to keep an eye on each other,” he replied. “If you aren’t fighting a zombie, hold each other’s hands and do NOT let go until you’re in the plane, or chopper, or whatever it is. Promise me that you won’t let her go, Ellis.”

            “…. Nick-.”

            “Just promise me, Overalls,” Nick demanded. “I’m gonna be fine, but I want to make sure you guys are too.”

            Ellis swallowed, and nodded fervently. “Yeah. I promise. I won’t let go of her.”            

            “Good. Thank you,” he said, and turned to Daisy, tucking some hair behind her ear. “And don’t let him do anything stupid, ‘kay Aces?”




            “Sure,” she said, nodding, trying to smile but too anxious. “Of course, then no one can make sure YOU don’t do anything stupid, but, whatever.” She rolled up her sleeve. “You’ll have to give me the shot, I hate needles.”

            “Alright,” Nick nodded, and removed the cap and outer shell. She turned her head, scrunching up her face in anticipation, and Nick stuck the needle in her. Ellis winced as he injected himself, and felt an immediate.

            “Oh lordy, I don’t know if I like this,” he said, shaking his head, and Nick turned back to him, emptying the needle and throwing it on the floor.

            “Sorry, kid, it’ll wear off,” he said, as Daisy moaned a bit, getting used to the feeling as well. “What’s wrong?”

            “It’s just weird,” she said, putting a hand to her chest. “Shit…. It’s like a hummingbird is having a seizure in my ribcage.”

            “Are you gonna be-?”

            “Don’t worry about it, it’s not like I’m gonna make it beat faster by running across a bridge or anything,” she deadpanned, but gave him a reassuring smile.

            “Okay,” Nick replied, smiling back at her. He pulled her into a hug, squeezing her tightly, and she did the same, closing her eyes and fighting off scared tears. He kissed her head again, and then turned to Ellis, who was scratching his neck nervously.

            “Nick…. Promise me that you’re gonna be okay,” he said. He wasn’t sure how the older man would react, as he very clearly hated making promises, but of all the times to promise something, this was it. Even if it wasn’t a promise he could necessarily keep, just to hear it would make him feel better.

            And Nick gave him that wonderful sly grin that made his knees feel more elastic. He took his wrist, and leaned in close.

            “I promise.”

            Ellis smiled at him, and they kissed, sweetly, and squeezed each other’s hands, knowing that it was time to go.

            “…. Let’s do this,” Nick said.

            “Yep,” Ellis agreed. “Kill all sons of bitches.” They opened up the door, and the three of them left the safe room.

            “Once again, Memorial to Crawdad, come in,” Coach was saying as they walked to the edge of the bridge. “This is Memorial to Crawdad, do you read me?” As they got closer it was clear that the radio he found had come from the corpse of a soldier. Perhaps at one time he had been an escort for the EC, though now he lay motionless as his radio crackled. “This is Memorial to anyone who can hear me, we are on the Bridge in New Orleans, requesting an escort to the EC.”

            “Come on,” Ellis mumbled, trying to ignore how fast his heart was racing. “There has to be someone out there.”

            “God dammit, we’re on the Bridge and we want to cross!” Coach shouted into the radio, and Rochelle put a hand to her head.

            “Why is the fucking thing up in the first place?” Nick asked.

            “To keep the infected off it?” Daisy suggested.

            “It already looks like it’s filled with them, you’re doing a hell of a job, Uncle Sam,” he snapped.

            “Memorial to anyone who can hear me! We are on the Bridge trying to get to the EC! We need it lowered so we can cross!”

            He was about to throw the radio over the side in frustration, but there was a sudden break in the static. “….. This is Big Gator, did you say that you were on the BRIDGE?”

            “Yes!” Coach exclaimed, happily. “We are on the Bridge, five of us. We’ve come from Georgia and we are seeking evacuation! We were told by a man by the name of Crawdad that you were lifting people out of here at the Bridge-!”

            “Are you infected?” Big Gator asked, voice stern.

            “Mister, do you think if we were infected we’d be able to talk to you like this?” Coach snapped.

            “Have you come in contact with the infected?”

            “Hell yes we’ve come in contact with them, we’ve been fighting them since Savannah because YOUR Evac Centers are DOWN between here and there-!” Coach shouted, and Rochelle took the radio from him before he said something they would all regret.

            “Big Gator, we have been in contact but we are NOT infected,” Rochelle continued, gripping the radio with both hands. “Repeat, we are NOT infected. You have to help us, we have a fifteen year old girl with us and someone who is hurt-.”

            “Roger that, Memorial, we understand,” Big Gator said, voice somewhat reluctant. Nick assumed that when Big Gator heard there were women and children, heart strings were plucked. This way he didn’t have to get Daisy on the radio to give an overblown and emotional performance. They could hear Big Gator mumbling through the radio waves. His voice trailed off to the side, as if not wishing to be heard. “Make sure they’re equipped for Carriers.”

            “Carriers?” Ellis asked, turning towards Daisy, and she shrugged.

            “Memorial?” the voice returned.

            “Yes Big Gator?” Rochelle asked, voice catching with fearful excitement.

            “We are sending a copter as we speak, it will be about ten minutes. Hit that large button on the side, that will lower the bridge. Run across and we’ll be there for you.”

            Rochelle cried out, relieved, and hopped up and down a few times. “Yes! Will do, Big Gator! Roger that! Memorial out!” She threw down the radio and shrieked with happiness, throwing her arms around Coach as the rest of them briefly celebrated.

           “You heard him, lower the Bridge, Ro,” Coach said, and she nodded, hitting the button.

            As the bridge began to sink towards them, Nick looked over at Ellis, who was chewing on his lip so hard that it might have started bleeding at any moment. The mechanic could feel Nick’s stare on him, and he turned to look at him. Their eyes met, green on blue, the stare between them speaking volumes. And once Ellis finally broke out in that crooked grin, Nick let out a small laugh, nodding at him. Ellis took Daisy’s hand, holding it tightly, as hard as he’d wanted to hold her father’s at that moment, and she clenched it back, breathing in and out at a rapid pace.

            “Fucking hummingbird,” she grumbled.

            “We got the front, Nick has the back, Ellis and Daisy in the middle,” Coach recited, as the hard metal slammed the concrete. “God’s speed, everyone.”

            As soon as they had set foot on the Bridge, the horde howled in a frenzy, noticing the new targets among them. Coach hurled a Molotov as far as he could, his arm not what it used to be, but still quite effective. Those that did escape the blaze, and there were many, were mowed down by Rochelle’s and Coach’s gunfire, and those that escaped that were dealt with by Nick. Daisy and Ellis held each other’s hands, rushing over bodies and crawling over burnt out cars, knocking any threats to the side for Nick to take care of. As they all ran, they saw how many gaping holes were in the road, as if the military had long given up on this bridge and was waiting to finish it off. They weren’t going to close it, they were going to destroy it. While they all held out hope that there were other survivors, they also hoped that those survivors didn’t have to stumble upon a wrecked bridge.

            “Jockey!” Nick shouted as one of the pink and manic creatures trotted out from behind a car. He shot it just before it leapt at him, and wondered what exactly would have happened had it made contact. It probably would have taken him off the fucking bridge. “Watch out for the horny ones, guys!

            Daisy shrieked a little as an infected man swiped at her, his hand running down her face, but she returned the motion with her hammer. It was hard to get a decent swing in when Ellis was practically immobilizing her left side, but the adrenaline made her connection a little more powerful, and teeth and ripped skin flew through the air while the attacker fell off the side of the bridge.

            Nick lit a Molotov and tossed it behind him, cutting off their escape route from the straggling zombies, and stopped to shoot at a crazed woman rushing towards Ellis. She fell backwards and her head broke open on the asphalt. Ellis hadn’t even noticed, being too busy aiming his handgun at a Boomer up past Coach. They were all holding their own fairly well, despite the lack of room to move. They were feeling rather optimistic until the ground began to rumble again.

            “Aw shit,” Ellis said, pulling Daisy to a stop as a Tank rose up across the Bridge. “Aw SHIT.”

            “Using my Molotov!” Rochelle shouted, hurling it at the large beast, as it seemed to help a lot last time. It hit the mutated being, and she, Coach, and Nick fired their guns rapidly, hoping that it wouldn’t get to them. Because if it did, and if it liked to throw like the last one, they would have a serious problem on their hands.

            “Keep going!” Nick shouted at Ellis and Daisy, who hadn’t moved from their spots. “Just go past it!”

            “I don’t want to get too far ahead-!” Ellis began, and pulled Daisy to the side as broken road soared towards them.

            “ELLIS, GO!” Nick bellowed, and this time the mechanic listened, pulling the teenager with him. The Tank didn’t seem to notice them, more than happy to rush Coach and Rochelle.  Rochelle held up her rifle, and looked through the scope.

            “Ro, don’t just stand there!” Coach exclaimed, loading his gun. “It’s gonna be on top of us in five seconds!”

            “I only need three!” she snarled, and once she had it’s knee in her sights she squeezed the trigger. The impact, while minute, was enough to make the Tank lose it’s balance. It tipped to the side, and it’s massive size made it flip over the surface of the bridge, howling as it fell. Rochelle exhaled sharply, and nodded at Coach, who just laughed at her.

“Ain’t nothin’ by nothin’,” she smirked, and they kept forward.

            Ellis and Daisy were skidding past infected, dodging and slugging their way through. As one grazed her, she lost her footing and practically sailed off the side of the bridge. She screamed, and Ellis fell to the pavement, holding onto her tightly, both hands clinging to her arm.

            “Ellis!” she cried out, flailing her legs in a panic.

            “Daze, quit kickin’!” he exclaimed, frightened. “I can’t pull ya up if you’re kickin’!” She nodded, stopping herself no matter how hard it was, and he hoisted her up, grabbing her by her jeans loops so her legs got up quicker. Once she was back on solid ground, she swallowed down the panicked vomit that was rising in her throat, and Ellis touched the side of her face in an effort to calm her down. “You’re fine, don’t worry… I mean, ARE you fine? I s’pose I should actually ASK ya-.”

            “I think so, yeah,” she confirmed, and he nodded as he hugged her quickly.

            “Kay, good…Let’s move back t’ the middle, huh?” he asked.

            “Yeah, good plan,” she said, as the sound of a helicopter broke through the sky. “Holy SHIT!”

            “YES!” Ellis shouted, waving his hands in the air. “GUYS, ‘COPTER’S HERE!”

            Nick didn’t hear what Ellis was saying, but he could see the helicopter plain as day, and it was coming just for them. Finally, salvation had found them. He lit up his second Molotov to cover his tracks, and hurled it behind him, ready to just forget the formation and sprint for the end. The other side was so close, yards away. He paused to load his Glock, just in case he had to defend himself against anything.

            And it was then that he felt the tongue snake around his ankle, snarling him and yanking him to the ground.

            “FUCK!” he shouted, reaching his hands out to grab something, anything. But all he could see was road, and his fingers scraped on the black tar, nails breaking. “SMOKER! FOR CHRIST’S SAKE, SMOKER!”

            But with the sound of the helicopter blades thumping in the air, no one could hear him. And he was dragged back further and further, closer and closer to the edge.

            Ellis waved at the helicopter pilot as the large machine landed, and he grinned as the hefty door in the back opened, revealing two men in masks. “Boy howdy, are we glad to see you guys-!”

            “DROP YOUR WEAPONS!” the first man said, holding up a gun right in his face, which caused Ellis to drop his handgun in a heartbeat. “ALL OF YOU!”

            “Just calm down!” Rochelle said, holding up her gun, but Coach smacked it down.

            “Ro, do what they say, we want to get on board!” he snarled, and Daisy nodded, removing the shotgun from her back. Her hammer, however, she placed in her bag, clandestinely. Neither soldier noticed. “There, we’ve dropped all our weapons, alright son? Please let us on board now?”

            They couldn’t see the soldier’s face through the mask, but he nodded, waving them on. “Just the four of you?”

            “Five,” Daisy said, turning around, and then her stomach fell. “Oh my God, where’s Dad!?”

            Ellis spun around, hands shooting to his head. Nick had been right behind them, hadn’t he? He could have sworn he’d heard him saying something, cursing at the infected like he always did. But now he was nowhere to be seen. Ellis turned back to Daisy, eyes wide, and he carefully pushed her towards the soldier. “Keep her here!”

            “Wait-!” Rochelle exclaimed, knowing just what he was going to do, but unable to say anything else before the mechanic tore back down the road towards the bridge. “ELLIS!”

            “BOY, YOU’RE UNARMED!” Coach shouted, and Daisy was going to follow him, but the soldier grabbed her.

            “LET ME GO!” she screamed, trying to kick her way out of his grasp, but he was much larger and stronger than her. “I NEED TO GO GET HIM!”

            “EVERYONE ON THE CHOPPER,” the second soldier commanded. “The bridge is going to be bombed once we take off, we have to move!”

            “You can’t just leave them!” Rochelle exclaimed, spinning fiercely. “For God’s sake, that’s murder!”

            “As far as I’m concerned he just committed suicide,” the second soldier replied. “We don’t have time to wait for them to NOT come back!”

            “…. You obviously don’t know Ellis or Nick,” Coach said, calmly. “They’ve come back many times, so many times I wonder if they made a deal with the Devil himself. Have some compassion, one of them is this girl’s father. She’s lost her mother already. Give them a chance to come back.”

            The first soldier looked down at Daisy, who was all out weeping now, no longer struggling, and he looked over at the second one, who remained rigid and with his gun raised at them.

            “….. We give them ten minutes, Rhodes,” he said, decidedly.

            “Foree, that’s insane!”

            “Ten. Minutes. They won’t destroy this thing until we give them the all clear.” He turned back to Coach. “Ten minutes.”

            “Ten minutes. Plenty of time,” Coach said, and he took Daisy from Foree, leading her to have a seat. She leaned forward, sobbing into her hands, and Rochelle sat next to her, drawing her into a hug.

            The Smoker had placed itself under the bridge, clinging to the underside, and Nick was slowly but surely being dragged towards the edge. There is no WAY that I am going to be bested by one of these things again, not this fucking time, he thought, and blindly grabbed for his Glock. He flipped himself over, digging his elbows against the road, trying to gather some leverage, and he yelled out as his ankle twisted and bent in an ungodly fashion. He aimed for the tongue, and shot. It grazed the cord, and he heard the creature cough in surprise. He yanked on his ankle, which snapped the tongue the rest of the way, and the Smoker’s head popped up from underneath the bridge, vexed that he had managed to escape. He unloaded the rest of the clip into the zombie, and it lost it’s grasp and fell off the bridge towards the water below. Nick exhaled, and turned around, trying to stand.

            His ankle was having none of it, though, and he screamed in pain as he fell back to the pavement. He glanced back at it, and figured that it must have been broken, or if not broken terribly sprained. No way he was moving on it. The Smoker had dragged him back so far, and he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to crawl the entire way. Not with other infecteds alerted to his presence and shambling in his direction. He winced, and pulled himself to his knees. So this was how it was going to end. Alone, on a bridge, ripped apart by zombies. He chuckled to himself, surrendering to it and struck by how LUDICROUS it was. In all the times he’d imagined his death, zombies, of course, never entered into it. And frankly, he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction.

            He put in the last of the ammo for his Glock, and placed the barrel to his temple. He wanted to wait for the helicopter to rise up before he did it, so he could be guaranteed that the rest had made it, that Ellis and Daisy had made it. After all, that was all he wanted from this. Sure, if he’d been there, that would have been great, but so long as they were safe and evacuated, he’d be satisfied. He took in a deep breath, knowing that it was going to rise up at any minute now, and closed his eyes.

            “Oh no you don’t, you’d better not break your promise!” he heard the Southern drawl cry, and his eyes snapped open to see Ellis, impulsive and stubborn Ellis, running for him. “You better put that down before I kick your ass!” Nick slammed the Glock on the ground, and began to laugh, relieved and angered at once.

            “You big fucking idiot, you were at the goddamn chopper!” he snarled, as the mechanic pulled him up. “Why the hell would you come back to find me?!” Ellis shrugged as he draped Nick’s arm across his shoulders.

            “Well now, the way I figure it is I’d go the whole wide world just to find ya, Gamblin’ Man,” he responded, shaking his head as he looked at Nick’s ankle. “Shit shit shit. Can’t walk, can ya?”

            “Not even remotely,” Nick chuckled, letting his happiness wash over him and defeat the righteous anger. “It’s busted up pretty badly.”

            “Well just keep me covered while we get back over there, the military’s bein’ real paranoid an’ I ain’t got any’ve my weapons left. So you gotta be my guns,” Ellis demanded.

            “You got it.”

            “Kee-riste Nick, if this was payback for the Tank….” He trailed off, but was beaming the whole time.

            Daisy was the first to see the two forms coming towards the helicopter. She stood up, hands flying to her mouth, and Rochelle leapt up too, a huge smile bursting across her face.

            “It’s them!” Coach proclaimed, grinning. Ellis waved at them, and whispered something to Nick. Nick gave him a snide look, and began to argue, but Ellis snapped something back, and Nick rolled his eyes and threw his guns and ax down on the ground. Daisy was about to launch out of the doors, but Nick held up a hand.

            “STAY!” he commanded, and she nodded, biting her lip and wiping happy tears away from her cheeks. Ellis helped him up into the chopper, and Nick sat down heavily, Daisy tossing her arms around his torso and him enveloping her in a comforting hug.

            “Can we go now?” Foree asked, and though they couldn’t see his face, it was clear by his voice that he was smiling.

            “Sure can,” Ellis nodded, sitting on the other side of Nick, and removing his hat so he could run a hand through his hair. Foree nodded, and he and Rhodes closed the doors and mumbled various commands into their radios.

            And soon the helicopter had lifted up off the ground, and took to the air. They could hear rumbling outside, knowing that the Bridge was now being cut off.

            After some time had passed and their hearts had slowed, Rochelle scratched her arms, and looked over at Foree, deciding that he was the more agreeable of the two soldiers. “So what happens now? Where are we going?”

            Foree turned to her. “We’ve set up ships in the Gulf. They’re carrying other survivors.”

            “How many?” Coach asked.

            “That’s classified,” Rhodes bit. “Just sit tight. You’ll find out soon enough.”

            “That’s suspicious,” Rochelle muttered, and if the soldiers heard her neither showed it.

            Nick leaned his head against the seat. His ankle was killing him, and he was definitely suspicious of what the military had in store. Especially if they were being THIS tight lipped. But for now, he didn’t give a fuck. On one side he had his daughter, who had promptly fallen asleep against his side. He held her close, knowing that he was going to keep her safe through whatever the next experience was, just as he’d done now and previously. And on the other side was Ellis, holding his hand and grinning to himself.

            “I can’t wait to tell Keith about all this,” he said, lethargically. “He’s gonna be so impressed.” Nick turned his head towards his lover, and smiled at him. “What?”

            “Nothing,” he said, shaking his head, and leaned forward, resting his forehead against Ellis’. “The whole wide world, huh?” Ellis grinned, and nodded against his forehead.

            “Yup.”

            “Yeah, me too, Overalls,” Nick murmured, sighing softly. Ellis moved his hat over his eyes, and rested his head on the jacket clad shoulder, ready to sleep as well.

            The older man kept his smile as the helicopter flew towards the unknown. Whatever it was, he was pretty sure that he could handle it. That THEY could handle it. He pulled both of them closer, and finally let himself fall into a light sleep too, feeling the final bits of himself transform along with his life.

            Both transformations were for the better.


	19. Epilogue

It would be written in the history books as The Year Of The Green Flu, though recovery was ongoing and not finished within a year. The most affected parts of the country, the East Coast, the South, and the Southwest, with parts of Southern California and Nevada, were being rebuilt, slowly and surely. The other parts of the nation, those that had been affected but not ravaged, had become home to those who had survived the ‘Great National Nightmare’, as the President had referred to it in his speech that had dismantled CEDA as a Government Agency. There was still no confirmation as to what had caused the illness in the first place. Rumors spread and whispered, but few dared pursue them. With a little more than a third of the U.S. population dead (and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere also touched), one would think that answers would be tirelessly sought, but that didn’t seem to be the case. Perhaps the country would rather forget.

            Many refugees, referred to as Survivors (Carriers was now a slur of sorts and Immunes weren’t prevalent enough to be categorized), went to the Pacific Northwest, Northern California, the West, and the Midwest. The evacuations had been more efficient in these places due to prior warning (or in some cases, smaller populations), and so the death tolls were lower, the cities less desiccated and mostly recovered. They began to arrive after a year of testing and holding in quarantine centers, after the Cure had been discovered. That discovery was also under suspicious circumstances, and much quicker than one would think had the illness been out of the blue and unpredicted, but no one asked questions when they were given the defense against becoming a mindlessly violent zombie. Green Flu vaccines became a part of the MMR booster regimen, required and regulated.

            Those who had gone through the worst of it had been given government sanctioned settlements. It didn’t seem like too much to ask, since those who had actually survived under the strict definition of qualification (lost family, wounded, without food and shelter for an extended period of time, not evacuated until after the original evacuations, horrendous stories, spent a certain amount of time in quarantine camps, etc) were so few and far between. It was the only apology the Government would offer, and in return it was expected that the Survivors not bring forth any sort of lawsuit. So in a way, it was an admission of culpability, even if it was never explicitly said.

            Cannon Falls, Minnesota had been evacuated, like all cities had been, but the residents were back in their homes and to their lives in less than a month. If there were no Infected left in the area (and the Military saw to it that there weren’t), they didn’t need to worry about vaccination until it was ready, and the Government felt they could wait it out safely at home. And while some returned to their city to find that the especially stubborn citizens who refused to leave with the initial evacuations were no longer around, questions weren’t asked.

They were, however, surprised when they found out that, a little more than a year after the Infection first broke, some Survivors were going to make settlement in their community. Many of the refugees that did choose Minnesota went to Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MAYBE Duluth or Rochester. While those cities were hit harder than the small towns in the state, they still stood, a little quieter, but a little more resilient as well.

Surprise turned to curiosity when they moved to a house outside of town, and curiosity turned to wariness when they saw how…. unconventional the family was. But they kept to themselves mainly; true, the younger man was one of the more skilled mechanics in town, and the girl became one of the track stars at the high school, but the older man worked in the Cities, doing what, no one really knew. There were rumors, of course, but no one wanted confirmation. And when people did have the guts to ask why it was that they decided to live in a country house despite the fact they didn’t farm, the answer, from all three, would be ‘It’s better outside large populations’. Few tried to understand.

            But one Mrs. Abby Lindstrom decided that perhaps it was time to try and understand. She had made such a decision because in February her sixteen year old daughter Amanda had brought home a new friend. Amanda had never really fit in very well with her classmates, so Abby had been surprised when she got home from work to find her daughter sitting in the kitchen with a girl she’d never seen before. Turned out the girl was a Survivor, had just moved to Cannon Falls in January and had tested into Amanda’s tenth grade class, after being in quarantine for a little longer than a year. And while Abby had been a little apprehensive at first, she soon realized that Daisy wasn’t like what the fear mongers would have her believe; she realized that these Survivors weren’t something to be feared, that she wasn’t spreading disease or incredibly ‘unstable’ as he husband Tim had suggested.

Many an argument had been waged between her and Tim over Daisy, and Daisy’s family. Abby had tried to point out that everyone in the country had been vaccinated, and even if Daisy was a ‘carrier’ before she was nothing to be afraid of now. And he would just stamp off and work in his tool shed, and she would momentarily wonder whom she might have ended up with had she not been knocked up on Prom night. Certainly someone less pigheaded.

            So that August day she baked up a hotdish and drove out to the country home that the Survivor family had taken up in.

            She stopped her car near the farmhouse, and exited it, carrying the crock pot filled with food onto the porch and knocking on the front door. There was a small delay, but soon she was face to face with Daisy, who was armed with a hammer that was held up and ready to strike.

            “Daisy, it’s me!” Abby exclaimed, holding the crock-pot up as defense, and Daisy gasped, and shook her head in relief.

            “I am SO sorry, Mrs. Lindstrom,” she said, stepping onto the porch and tossing the hammer to the side. “Old habits… I mean, you never know, and I wasn’t expecting anyone, but I’m still really sorry. My therapist says-.”

            “It’s alright, Daisy, really,” Abby replied, though her heart was racing so badly she had to lean on the railing. She wondered if those sick with Green Flu would have knocked as politely as she had. She also wondered what the stains on the hammer’s head were… “Is your family home?”

            “Uh, yeah, they’re around,” Daisy replied, suspiciously. “Why?”

            “Well, I finally got around to making that welcome hotdish that I mentioned to you earlier this summer,” Abby answered, a bit sheepish that it was seven months after they had moved into the two floor farm house. And she was especially ashamed that she didn’t know much, if anything, about Daisy’s family. She’d certainly seen them all around town, and had heard rumors from her book club, and her husband. But Amanda wouldn’t take any bait that Abby laid out for her, so there was no true confirmation on their…. Status, as it were.

            “Oh, okay. I thought I’d piss-er…, made you upset or something.”

            “No, no, not at all, I just wanted to meet them finally,” Abby smiled.

            “Well sure, I’ll get them,” Daisy replied, and stuck her head back into the foyer. “DAD! ELLIS! SOMEONE’S HERE TO SEE YOU!” She removed her head from the house, and smiled at the older woman. “They’ll be here in a bit.”

            “Is Ellis your… uncle?” Abby asked, thinking that it was time to set the record straight, and Daisy quirked her lips a bit, knowingly.

            “You don’t actually think that, do you?”

            Nick hadn’t wanted to come to the door, not particularly interested in ‘getting to know the locals’ as he referred to it. He didn’t like the looks he and Ellis would get when they went into town together, and he wasn’t sure if the looks were because they were Survivors or because they would hold hands in public, caress too. They’d become notorious, and whoever was at the door had most likely heard of them. He certainly wasn’t ashamed, he just had no time for idiots.

           “We should go say hi,” Ellis suggested, raising his eyebrows.

           “YOU can go say hi.”

           “Aw come on, Nick,” the mechanic said, patiently. “It’s not gonna kill ya. If quarantine didn’t kill ya, chit chat won’t either.” Nick sighed, defeated (though he hadn’t fought too hard), and nodded.

            “Fine,” he snipped, and they walked towards the door, him with a slight limp that would serve as a constant reminder of that awful year. “But YOU’RE going to do most of the talking.”

            “That’s fine by me, I like talkin’,” Ellis said, as if this was huge news to his beau. Nick smirked to himself, and opened the door to see a thirty-something woman holding a crock-pot, standing on the porch with his daughter.

            “Hey guys,” the teenager said. “She comes bearing food.”

            “Daisy, who’s this?” he asked gruffly, while Ellis grinned and extended a hand towards her, pulling Nick onto the porch with his other hand.

            “Hi, I’m Abby Lindstrom,” the woman said, smiling and shaking Ellis’ hand. “I’m one of your neighbors down the road, and thought that it was about time that I brought over some tuna hotdish to welcome you to Cannon Falls.”

            “Well hi there, Abby,” Ellis stated. “I’m Ellis, this here’s Nick.”

            “We moved in seven months ago, it’s a little late for the welcome wagon, don’t you think?” Nick said, uncaring that he was coming off as uncouth. After all, he was an uncouth guy.

            “Dad,” Daisy hissed, “this is Amanda’s mother. You know, the girl on Track at school?” You know, one of my only fucking friends, she thought, and tried to convey with a look.

            “Oh yeah! Amanda is REAL nice, an’ she gives Daze here a run for her money on the Track team!” Ellis said chipperly, patting Daisy on the back.

            “I know that it’s been a long time coming,” Abby stated, shamefacedly. “But I’ve gotten to know Daisy this summer, and thought that it was time that I came over and met her parents….” She looked from Nick, to Ellis, and then at Daisy, who shrugged, and smiled politely. “And I… guess I’ve found them, haven’t I?”

            “Tuna hotdish? Is that the same thing as tuna casserole? Cuz I LOVE tuna casserole,” Ellis said, accepting the crock pot from Abby happily. “My Mom used to make it all the time, I haven’t had it since Savannah. One time, my buddy Keith, he tried to make his own version of tuna casserole, an’ he thought that if mayonnaise was good on tuna sandwiches, it would be good on casserole, and he poured it ALL over the-.”

            “Ellis,” Nick said gently, and the mechanic nodded, understanding the cue.

            “Well, anyway, thanks,” he ended with. “Would you like to come in? We got lemonade, an’ water, an’-.”

            “That sounds nice,” Abby said, utterly charmed by the younger man but still not quite sure of Nick. “… And again, I’m sorry it took me so long to stop by with this hotdish. But Amanda had so many nice things to say about your family, and I thought that, well, it must be hard being new here, after all you’ve been through.”

            Nick was going to make some snarky comment, one involving delayed hospitality out of fear of Infection, or The Gays, or both, but when he saw that both Daisy and Ellis were giving him their versions of The Look, he grit his teeth, and shrugged.

            “Well…. If you want to shoot the shit with this family, that’s up to you,” he said, walking back inside. “I just hope that you like the term ‘fag hag’, because that’s what you’re going to be labeled.”

            “Aw JEEZE Nick, you say that like it’s a BAD thing!” Ellis called, following him into the house like a puppy, like he usually did with Nick.

Abby turned to look at Daisy, who was smirking and shaking her head.

            “So, this is your family, Daisy?” she asked, trying her hardest to not look too surprised. “Your Dad and his… You need to help me, what does your Dad call Ellis?” She flushed, embarrassed that she was coming off so ignorant. One of her favorite TV shows was WILL AND GRACE for God’s sake!

            “Boyfriend. And yeah, they’re pretty crazy,” Daisy said, smiling kindly. “But it’s the best fuc-, er, freaking family unit I’ve ever been a part of. And I have no one to thank but the godda-, ER, gosh darned zombies.” She always tried to hold onto that foul fucking mouth when Abby was around.

            “Well I hope they like hotdish,” the older woman stated, genuinely, and followed her into the house.

            While the two ladies sat in the dining room talking, the two guys were arguing in the kitchen.

            “She hates us,” Nick muttered as he grudgingly removed glasses from the cupboard. Why did Ellis always have to be so damn courteous? “You can just tell that she’s going to go back and tell all her friends about how she finally went to the Survivor Circus and it was a freak show.” Ellis shook his head, turning up the Beach Boys on the radio a little bit in case she could hear them bickering.

            “You got a persecution complex or somethin’, she seems real nice,” he chided, pouring lemonade into the cups and tapping his foot along with ‘God Only Knows’ as it played through the speakers. “Just cuz other people in town’ve been a bit uncomfortable it doesn’t mean SHE’LL be. She’s havin’ lemonade, ain’t she?” Nick shrugged, and wrinkled his nose as Ellis began to scoop sugar into the glasses.

            “Yeah, I guess. But we’ll see how long that lasts when her quilting circle starts to-…Hey, Overalls, I don’t want any more sugar in mine,” Nick grumbled, trying to snatch the glass from the younger man, but Ellis stubbornly swiped it away.

            “It tastes like shit right now, Nick, let me fix it!”

            “I LIKE it sour!”

            “I’m just addin’ a coupla spoonfuls-.”

            “I don’t want to drink it with an insulin chaser, give it back!” Nick demanded, and Ellis snorted, and added one more spoonful of sugar, staring at Nick the whole time in a defiant manner. “… I swear to God, I should have left you with the Infected.” Ellis smiled smugly, leaning on the table and putting his face inches from Nick’s.

            “If I recall right, it was ME who saved YOUR ass a buncha times,” he said, haughtily. He pushed the glass towards the older man, and Nick accepted it, holding Ellis’ gaze.

            “Do we have to make conversation with this woman? Can’t we just go upstairs and-.”

            “Thought you said you wanted to be a better person.”

            “Some things never change, El.”

            “Well, jus’ grin an bear it for a half hour, then we’ll make an excuse for her to go, send Daze to the movies, an’ THEN we can go upstairs, an’ you can do whatever ya want. Kay?”

            “… Did we ever send what’s left of CEDA that thank you fruit basket you suggested?”

            “Nope. You didn’t send that letter either.”

            “Well remind me to do it this Christmas.” With that sly quip, he took Ellis’ chin in his hands and drew him into a kiss. Yeah, there would be a letter, a letter woven with profanity and anger.

            But the fruit basket? It would have to be the largest fruit basket he could find. And as they got carried away with the kisses in the kitchen, the Beach Boys serenaded them with the exact emotions they had. Because God only knew what they’d be without each other, and if zombies couldn’t take that away, they sure as shit weren’t going to let anything else do it either.

 

THE END


End file.
